Walking into Chuck E. Cheese with my son on Sunday was a surreal experience.
Despite the video games and pizza, the Chuck E. Cheese of my early 1980’s memories was dark, musty, and foreboding.
I used to run to my parents in terror when the animatronic “show” would start. My pulse still pounds at the thought, even after more than 35 years.
Today’s Chuck E Cheese is sterile and well-organized by comparison. Indoor smoking is prohibited, and the animatronics were replaced by monotonous kid’s bop on ceiling-mounted video screens.
The pizza remains, and once every two hours a staff member in a rat costume emerges from the broom closet to help sing happy birthday to all the kids.
Family entertainment centers like Chuck E. Cheese exist throughout the country, but few endure.
In high school I worked at Funplex, an indoor entertainment zone with bumper cars, laser tag, and other attractions. The family-run operation was a money pit, and could never achieve scale without significant outside investment.
Very little separates Funplex, which only a few Seattlites will remember, from Chuck E. Cheese, which endures today, except brand.
When you build a strong brand, people come back year after year. When you have kids, you bring them to the same place that terrified you, because you can count on the brand for a predictable experience.
#branding #storytelling #narrative
Chief Operating Officer at ShopCore Properties
4wWell done Wesley, you are transforming The Shops at SkyView