March 8, 2022
Chuck E. Cheese continues its strong pace of international agreements and new location openings across the Caribbean, Latin America, Middle East Markets and Europe
The Chuck E. Cheese brand is set to expand again, growing its presence in the Caribbean with the announcement of a new development agreement in the Dominican Republic. The expansion comes after years of success in the Honduras and El Salvadoran markets by existing franchise partner Entertenimiento Y Diversiones SA De CV, owned by Leo Castellon.
Leo Castellon, who currently operates three locations in Honduras and one in El Salvador, which opened in 2021, provided further testament that a Chuck E. Cheese franchise provides a robust and highly profitable business model.
“El Salvadorians have welcomed us warmly and we are confident we will see the same reaction for bringing the world’s #1 family entertainment brand to the Dominican Republic,” says Leo Castellon, who is renowned for his contributions to the entertainment industry across Central America.
The signing of the development agreement in the Dominican builds upon the brand’s international expansion in 2021, which brought in agreements from new franchise partners across the globe, including: Qatar, Romania, Kuwait, Surname, and Guyana.
In addition, in 2021, the brand successfully expanded its presence with seven new store openings in markets including Chile, Peru, Saudi Arabia, El Salvador and Bahrain.
“Seeing growth and demand for Chuck E. Cheese shows the resilience of our brand and speaks to the success that we’ve been able to bring internationally over the last few years with our existing franchise partners. With several new partners joining our franchise system, they’ve recognized the same advantages in launching the brand within each of their countries,” says Arun Barnes, COO & SVP of International Development for CEC Entertainment.
Chuck E. Cheese has evolved with several innovative platforms, including:
- A smaller format at a reduced Capex for a quicker ROI
- An innovative Playpass card and band system that allows for time-based play
- A year-round immersive marketing and content driven Entertainment program experience titled “4 Seasons of Fun” – that helps drive traffic to our family entertainment centers all year while generating a lot of consumer engagement
- With several other new innovations currently being trialed – this will keep Chuck E. Cheese several years ahead of other FEC concepts over the foreseeable future
Barnes added “Chuck E. Cheese has seen International location growth at a CAGR of 16% since 2018, outpacing the Family Entertainment Center industry average. We offer a comprehensive turn-key support program with 40+ years of management experience to all our franchise partners and have an engaged franchise community, led by a highly committed International Franchise Advisory Council – that keeps all of us on track, for constant improvement programs to help us grow revenues and improve profitability. There is no better brand to engage with than Chuck E. Cheese – to further any potential investors foray, into this lucrative and engaging FEC segment.”
“Working with the CEC International team is a pleasure,” said Yanni Jouaneh, Qatar’s franchise partner who plans to open the first location in that market later this year. He further says, “they have great systems and processes to support International franchising and our business feasibility of the brand, showcased a unique opportunity to bring in a highly profitable brand into Qatar’s exciting market landscape. There is no other brand that offers a great mix of Games, Food, Entertainment and Birthday parties,” he concluded.
Chuck E. Cheese is actively searching for multi-unit franchise partners in available markets across Asia, Europe, South America and more. For franchising interests or to learn more about how to bring the joy of Chuck E. Cheese to kids & families in your market, please visit the all-new international franchising website (here) where you can discover all of the latest news and exciting expansion plans.