Update 6/25/20: The parent company of Chuck E Cheese has filed for bankruptcy. There’s no further news yet on whether they’ll be permanently closing though; in fact, more than half their locations are open right now. Given their reputation for being germ factories though, I can’t imagine wanting to take your kids to a Chuck E Cheese in the middle of a pandemic.
Retailers and restaurants that rely on bricks and mortar operations have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, so it’s not surprising that Chuck E Cheese is reportedly looking at filing for bankruptcy.
They’ve been trying to sell their pizzas on Grubhub under the name Pasqually’s Pizza & Wings, but I imagine they’ve been less successful since that initiative was uncovered last month.
The company has almost $1 billion of debt and are in talks with lenders to get additional funding. If that’s not successful, they might be forced to close permanently. In the event that happens, their gift cards would likely be rendered worthless.
For those of you currently holding Chuck E Cheese gift cards, there aren’t any particularly great options. Their gift cards are currently listed on Raise for more than 20% off, so after taking into selling fees and how long it’ll take to sell them, it could be a struggle to offload them.
Another option would be to redeem them by ordering food for pickup. While Chuck E Cheese pizza is apparently not any good (I’ve never tried it), if you have kids in your life then I’m sure they’d appreciate it.
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