Retail Watchers

Revenue is down 85% from this time last year. Dave & Buster's was once the envy of all other restaurants. They had enormous crowds and lines of customers who would wait hours to get a table just to eat. Entire mall parking lots would fill up with cars from all of the customers just from this restaurant.

The company seemed to be unstoppable with a business model that could never fail. Everyone loved going to Dave & Buster's. The bar was packed, the restaurant was packed, kids would try to sneak in to play the games late at night... Now everything has changed. Many of their restaurants are closed. Indoor dining is banned in many areas. Amusement parks and indoor games are also banned in many areas. It is strange how you could be on the top of the world and then suddenly everything comes crashing down.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dave- ... 2020-09-10

There is a new D&B location that was scheduled to open in May in Bellevue, and another one planned (still under construction) in Lynnwood. In Washington, Governor Inslee has decreed that arcades and other indoor amusement centers will not be allowed to open until Phase 4 (although eventually an exception was made to allow bowling alleys to reopen only for leagues, and with a maximum of 2 players per lane) Even before the exception was made, a number of bowling alleys have already gone out of business. One owner of a small arcade near here says he doesn't expect to be allowed to reopen any time before the end of 2020, and likely beyond that by several months.

It's over a year late, but the COVID-delayed Dave and Busters in Bellevue finally opened its doors yesterday, only the second one in Washington. As far as I know there are still plans to open one at Alderwood, but construction on the mixed use expansion where it would be going has been slow, and it would likely be no less than several months away. Currently the Dave and Busters website doesn't show any "coming soon" locations, but it does seem that previous expansion plans have continued quietly.