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Category Archives: Food & beverage

Will increased cooking at home, restaurant takeout, and meal delivery become the post-pandemic future normal? If so, what are its implications for location-based entertainment?

How the pandemic has changed our dining behaviors and its impact on our post-pandemic dining and visits to location-based entertainment venues. Continue reading

Covid-time restaurant preferences and concerns

While people’s food and drink preferences are continually changing, some things remain the same as pre-pandemic for dining out during the coronavirus, while others have changed. Continue reading

Location-based entertainment venue food & drink during the Covid-era

LBEs that make the guest dining and drinking experience as safe and positive as possible and broadly communicate their health and safety measures to guests will be able to maximize their attendance and revenues during these trying times. They might even get a competitive leg up on restaurants, peoples’ top choice to return to. Continue reading

What will make people comfortable returning to your business?

What health and safety practices will make people feel most comfortable to return to your business while the coronavirus is still out there? Continue reading

Who’s ready to return to out-of-home entertainment and cultural experiences?

Now that states are starting to allow businesses to open and the lockdown is winding down, will people return to out-of-home (OOH) entertainment and cultural experiences? Our company has access to a large number of national U.S. polls with very current data. So, I dug into the data of some of them to see what people are saying. Continue reading

The inconvenient truth – almost all location-based entertainment business models are now obsolete

Our company prides itself in using research to identify trends and guide our clients to future-proof their location-based entertainment centers (LBEs), which includes the categories of family entertainment centers (FECs), social eatertainment venues and agritainment/agritourism farms. As they say in … Continue reading

Will no longer doing some things we used to do pre-Covid become a permanent habit?

While bunkered down at home, I’ve been taking long walks everyday whenever the weather permits. Here in Kansas City in the Spring, it’s a great time to take walks as all the greenery is emerging. Winters here are very gray. … Continue reading

Will your entertainment or cultural venue be ready for the post-lockdown guests?

Now is the time to start thinking about what changes need to be made to both facility design and operations to attract the post-lockdown consumer. Continue reading

Dave & Buster’s continues its decline

Yesterday Dave & Buster’s reported record revenues in the third quarter, up 12.9%. Sounds all rosy, but it really isn’t when you drill down into the results. The revenue increase is attributable to an increase in the number of stores. … Continue reading

Household spending at community-based entertainment and restaurants exceeds spending in the year 2000

Household spending at community-based entertainment venues and restaurants exceeds spending in 2000. Continue reading

First mover doesn’t succeed unless its also best mover

The conventional wisdom is that first to market can establish a stronghold in the market, a first mover advantage, making it difficult for later entrants to capture market share. However, a first mover advantage is never a sure thing. Being a first mover at the expense of being the best mover will often lead to a competitive disadvantage. Continue reading

Eatertainment webinar rescheduled for next Wednesday

The eatertainment webinar has been rescheduled for 1 PM Easter Standard Time, next Wednesday, February 17th. Continue reading

Free webinar on eatertainment this Wednesday

Free webinar on eatertainment this Wednesday Continue reading

Looking back and looking forward at the FEC industry

Looking back through the history of the family entertainment center industry and predictions of what the future holds for its success. Continue reading

BECs still prisoners of the past

So here’s the problem with using the name BEC or hybrid bowling center for these mixed-anchor centers that include bowling. . . Continue reading

Is Chuck E. Cheese’s the Blockbuster Video of the Eatertainment Industry?

Greg Casale, the head chef at CEC, tells the press that a desire to attract Millennial mothers is behind the menu change. “Her kids know it’s a fun place to go, but Millennial moms want to provide that great experience without sacrificing for themselves,” he says. . . .Greg Chef, your new menu is still so in the past. It’s a 2005 menu in 2015. . . Continue reading

It’s no longer about targeting the middle class

Back at the end of the 20th Century when indoor family entertainment centers (FECs) first took off, they targeted the middle class as their primary customer. Society has changed a lot since then. . . The middle class is no longer the target market of choice for location-based entertainment (LBE) of all types, including what are broadly termed as family entertainment centers (FECs). Continue reading

Where does pizza at FECs and Chuck E. Cheese’s fall in the four pizza groups?

Most FECs need to wake up and get with it, or they will see drastic revenue declines no different than Chuck E. Cheese’s has seen over the years due to their behind the times, non-adult appealing pizza. Continue reading

Parents pan Chuck E. Cheese’s food and experience

Each year National Restaurant News and WD Partners conduct a national Consumer Picks survey of restaurant customers’ top brands. This year’s survey included 42,196 consumer responses on 172 brands. This year’s survey rated 111 limited-service restaurant chains and Chuck E. Cheese’s came in . . Continue reading