After Chuck E. Cheese’s plans to retire most of its animatronic bands sparked an outcry from wistful fans, the pizzeria-arcade chain said it would keep a few more bands.
The company will increase the number of remaining animatronic tapes to five, a company spokeswoman told The New York Times in a statement on Thursday.
The move comes after The Times detailed the chain’s plan to phase out animatronic performers at all but two of the more than 400 Chuck E. Cheese locations in the United States by year’s end. The company said it wants to update the Chuck E. Cheese experience for a new generation of digitally-savvy kids.
The backlash came quickly. A few distraught fans even managed to reach the chain’s general manager, David McKillips, on his personal phone to appeal for the survival of at least a few more animatronic performers known as Munch’s Make Believe Band.
The company announced in November that a band would remain at a Los Angeles location and that a Chuck E. Cheese in Nanuet, NY would retain a version of the band called Studio C, where only Chuck E. Cheese would perform alone .
Three locations have now joined this list: Pineville, NC, Hicksville, NY and Springfield, Illinois.
Those locations will undergo previously planned renovations, but the popular anthropomorphic robot musicians will remain, said Alejandra Brady, a spokeswoman for Chuck E. Cheese.
The outcry from die-hard Chuck E. Cheese fans and nostalgic customers intensified last week as they flooded phone lines and inboxes, causing a stir at locations across the country, Ms. Brady said.
Mark Kupferman, the chain’s chief marketing officer, said the decision to keep three more of the aging groups was less about business and more about paying tribute to the children who have sustained the company throughout its 47-year history .
“It’s a duty to our heritage,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s anyone at Chuck E. Cheese who opposes this,” he added.
After the coronavirus pandemic closed many locations and prompted the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the summer of 2020, Chuck E. Cheese’s leadership has focused on modernization, swapping out its animatronic characters for digital screens and dance floors.
After hearing from enthusiasts of the animatronic bands, Chuck E. Cheese tried to make sure they represented a range of configurations that have come and gone over the years, Mr. Kupferman said.
The five surviving bands are from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
“We will do everything we can to preserve these characters and keep them in good working order,” Mr. Kupferman said.
Jesus Jiménez contributed reporting.
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2024-05-24 14:07:41
www.nytimes.com
