ShowBiz GMs, execs celebrate Chuck E. Cheese's turnaround, rally for new goals

Nation's Restaurant News, Feb 10, 1997 by Richard Martin

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. -- Granted enough breaks from rain to enjoy rounds of golf and a yacht cruise, leaders of the Chuck E. Cheese's chain met here last month to celebrate its financial turnaround and discuss future plans of parent company Showbiz Pizza Time Inc.

Buoyed by Chuck E. Cheese's 9.8-percent average rise in comparable-store sales last year and the doubling in market value of Showbiz Pizza Time's stock since 1994, attendees at the chain's 20th-anniversary convention of general managers also rejoiced over real sales gains posted by fully 90 percent of all corporate-owned outlets during the banner year of 1996.

Restaurant general managers, company executives and supplier-firm representatives, nearly 350 in all, convened at the posh Ritz-Carlton ocean front resort for three days to socialize, recognize achievements in service and sales, and rally behind new initiatives to further the dramatic ascent of the kid-oriented pizza-and-games chain.

Among the numerous sales-achievement and service honors presented during the conference were recognition for, the chain's general managers and district managers of the year. During a gala banquet ShowBiz chairman and chief executive Richard M. Frank and president Michael Magusiak also presented awards to the 200 corporate-unit general managers who notched sales increases in 1996.

During the meeting dozens of three-, five- and 10-year-veteran general managers were inducted into ShowBiz's "Chairman's Club" and were presented with specially struck medallions commemorating the 20th anniversary of the chain, based in Irving, Texas.

"Clearly, `Chuck E.' is not a fad, no flash in the pan," chairman Frank said. He credited the brand's 1996 business boom to a massive store-remodeling campaign, improved marketing and guest-relations programs and the store managers' cohesive and focused execution of unit-level service initiatives. During business sessions recapping the chain's recent performance hallmarks, all general managers in attendance gave nods of approval to the nearly 40-percent increase in their average compensation over the last two years. "From my perspective, you all can't make too much," Frank told the managers.