Dave & Buster's

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Dave & Buster's (NYSE: DAB) is an American restaurant chain which mixes dining with arcade-style gaming. The company was founded by David O. Corriveau and James W. Corley in 1982, and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

[edit] History

The first Dave & Buster's opened in Dallas, Texas in December of 1982.

On November 1, 2004, Dave & Buster's completed the acquisition of nine locations, formerly operated by Jillian's Entertainment, Inc. – Until August of 2005, these complexes were operated under the Jillian's brand. They are in the process of being converted to the Dave & Buster's name.

The company announced on December 8, 2005 that it would be acquired by private equity firm Wellspring Capital Management LLC.

[edit] Business model

At Dave & Buster's, American style food and drinks are served at tables near modern video games, and pool, billiards and shuffleboard tables. Waiters and waitresses serve drinks to patrons at their games. The chain has several locations throughout the United States, as well as one in Canada and two in Mexico.

They briefly entered the UK market opening two stores Birmingham and Bristol - these were under a franchise agreement with Bass plc of Birmingham, England [NYSE:BAS] - The Dave & Buster's stores in England were two of the highest weekly sales businesses in the UK leisure market. After only 3 years, both stores were closed after the franchise agreement was brought to an abrupt end in October 2000.

Rather than dispensing tokens for its games, Dave & Buster's sells "Power Cards", and each game is equipped with a card reader instead of a coinbox. A card is purchased with a predetermined number of credits on it, and different games will require different amounts of credits per play. Cards can be "recharged" by inserting them along with money into a recharging station. Occasionally, such as during less-busy times of the late evening, fees on some of the games may be temporarily reduced.

Dave & Buster's does not admit people under age 21 unless accompanied by a person age 25 or older who agrees to be responsible for the underage individual's conduct. Each adult may accompany up to 4 children.