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Chuck E. Cheese's owner is trying to keep the family pizza-party place alive, but to do that, will they have to permanently close a bunch of stores, including Rochester's location?

The pandemic has hit it's business model of "Kids Birthday Party-Place" really hard. So hard, in fact, that they're almost a BILLION dollars in debt. The CEO is hoping they can borrow $200 million to keep bankruptcy away. At the same time, the parent company is, "offering almost $3 million in retention bonuses to its top executives in an attempt to keep them from leaving the company." (Source)

We last heard about Chuck E. Cheese on our apps when they started a delivery service which caused a problem here in Rochester...

Chuck E. Cheese has misled some Minnesota customers on GrubHub. Some customers have ordered from a place called Pasqually's Pizza and Wings thinking they're supporting a local business when really it's just Chuck E. Cheese operating under a different name. And this isn't only happening to customers in Minnesota, it's around the country.

The first thing I thought of when I saw this was, that name is just a little too similar to Pasquale's Neighborhood Pizzeria for my liking. However, Chuck E. Cheese says that this different name they're operating under is named after one of the Chuck E. Cheese characters. Pasqually is the Italian chef and also the drummer in the band.  (Keep reading...)

Chuck E. Cheese Sold To Private Equity Firm Apollo For 1.3 Billion
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According to as story on Mashed.com,

Even with the new delivery model, the stores' physical closures are weighing heavily on CEC's bottom line, because more than half of the revenue of its stores (about 56 percent) comes from merchandise and entertainment. Meanwhile, brand restrictions have allowed dining rooms to reopen, but arcades to stay closed. If CEC were to fail, it would mean the end of 610 Chuck E. Cheese-branded stores located across 47 states. (SOURCE)

So will the Rochester store close? Too soon to know. I placed  calls over the last few hours and every time it goes right to "please wait" and then hung up as I waited.

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