Dave & Buster’s is about as a COVID-19-unfriendly business as you can imagine, so it’s not surprising things aren’t going as perfectly for them as their latest ad tells you that you are.
Needless to say, the pandemic has had a severely adverse effect on their business, so much so that they’re now warning that they might have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
There have been occasional deals on Dave & Buster’s gift cards over the last year or two, so some of you might still have those on hand. As with other companies that have already gone through this process, filing for bankruptcy doesn’t render their gift cards worthless. If you’re holding any Dave & Buster’s gift cards though, I feel like they’re in a bit more of a concerning situation than with many other retailers due to the nature of their business.
Even if there were no laws restricting the number of guests in their locations, I can’t imagine tons of people rushing back through their doors right now due to the risk. Without a vaccine, matters are unlikely to improve too significantly, thereby meaning their finances are unlikely to improve in the short term.
It also makes it harder to redeem or offload their gift cards. With demand down, fewer people are likely buying them from sites like Raise. If you’re not keen on redeeming them at Dave & Buster’s locations by hanging out there and playing games, it might be possible to order food to go. This might be location-specific, but when checking online it seems like some of their locations offer this as an option.