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‘Grown up’ Chuck E. Cheese gaming arcade opens in St. Pete
Chuck E. Cheese, the nationally recognized children’s arcade and restaurant chain, has launched a new concept, Chuck’s Arcade. It’s targeted towards adults and teenagers – the individuals who grew up with the Chuck E. brand.
Ten locations have opened in malls and hotels around the country, including one in St. Petersburg’s Tyrone Square Mall (6901 22nd Avenue N.).
It was previously known as the Fun Spot Arcade, also owned by CEC Entertainment, LLC, Chuck E. Cheese’s parent company.
“We didn’t want to confuse anybody. We didn’t want to, for example, put Chuck E. Cheese in the name per se. We didn’t want little kids showing up because the games are really for older kids and adults,” Mark Kupferman, CEC Entertainment Executive Vice President, Chief Insights & Marketing Officer told the Catalyst.
However, rebranding Fun Spot into Chuck’s Arcade was a strategic move that made sense, Kupferman believes.
“At the same time there’s an awful lot of people who really love Chuck E. Cheese and so we wanted to be able to do something with that,” he said.
An original animatronic Pasqually, the Italian Chef (non-animated) is on display at Chuck’s Arcade.
Chuck E. Cheese, in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, entertained millions of children and gained an international following.
Its roots date back to 1977, when founder Nolan Bushnell created the original Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre in San Jose, California. Over time, it became a popular spot for kids’ birthday parties and weekend outings.
The success of mall arcades and adult-friendly arcade chains such as Dave & Busters has shown that there is a nostalgia market. “It made sense for us to be a part of that,” Kupferman added.
The Tyrone Square Mall location was rebranded into Chuck’s Arcade in June.
Each Chuck’s Arcade will feature classic retro games such as Ms. Pac Man or Donkey Kong as well as modern, mature offerings like Halo and Jurassic Park.
Creating an adult-targeted arcade was inspired by CEC Entertainment’s game team, Kupferman explained. These are the individuals who help select games for locations around the world.
“Being able to put together a combination of things that would appeal to them and to appeal to the older crowd was something that they were really excited to do.”
Every Chuck’s Arcade location will also have a special nod to the brand’s history and feature one animatronic character.
Chuck E. Cheese, was for a period of time, known for its Munch’s Make Believe Band animatronic shows featuring robotic versions of its characters.
In 2024, the company announced that the animatronic figures would be removed from most Chuck E. Cheese locations in an effort to rebrand.
“Certainly, entertainment has evolved over the last 50 years [since] Chuck E. Cheese has been around,” Kupferman said.
What fans didn’t know was that executives at CEC Entertainment had something planned.
“We’ve absolutely kept a number of the animatronics in storage and we’ve been looking for opportunities to roll them out that make sense in the context of the overall brand,” he explained.
While the animatronics featured at Chuck’s Arcade locations will not perform, they will be on display for guests (the St. Pete arcade has a figure of Pasqually, the Italian chef).
The city’s long-lived Chuck E. Cheese restaurant, meanwhile, remains open in the Tyrone Shopping Plaza, 1028 58th Street N.
For the CEC Entertainment team, creating Chuck’s Arcade was an opportunity to reflect on the company’s legacy.
“It’s a great way to give something back to folks who grew up with the experience, who appreciate being able to every once in a while have that experience that harkens back to when they were kids,” Kupferman added.
Chuck’s Arcade also has locations in Trumbull, Connecticut; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Victor, New York; Buford, Georgia; El Paso, Texas; Nashua, New Hampshire; Salem, New Hampshire; and Kansas City, Missouri.
