Discovery Zone
 The 1989-1998 Discovery Zone Logo | |
| Traded as | DZ |
|---|---|
| Industry | Fast food and entertainment |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Successor | Chuck E. Cheese's |
| Founded |
October 1989 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Founder |
Ronald Matsch Jim Jorgensen Dr. David Schoenstadt |
| Defunct | 1999 |
| Headquarters | Wilmington, Delaware, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Family entertainment centers |
Discovery Zone (DZ) was a chain of entertainment facilities featuring games and elaborate indoor mazes designed for young children, including roller slides, climbing play structures and ball pits. It also featured arcade games. The chain was founded by Ronald Matsch, Jim Jorgensen and Dr. David Schoenstadt in 1989. The first location was opened in Kansas City, Missouri in October 1989. An early investor and vocal supporter of the company was tennis player Billie Jean King.[1]
Other places similar to Discovery Zone include Chuck E. Cheese's, Major Magic's (closed), The Jungle: Fun and Adventure, Planet Play, Time In, and Wonder Camp (closed). McDonald's started a similar chain called Leaps and Bounds that merged into Discovery Zone in 1994.
IPO and merger
Discovery Zone completed a successful IPO in June 1993 (led by Chris Bellios, Sam Jeremenko and Steven Noe) raising over $50 million. In 1994, Discovery Zone merged its operations with Blockbuster Video and its (now former) parent Viacom. Sumner Redstone managed to shift the assets to Blockbuster and move operations to Chicago. He told numerous college students at the 1995 annual meeting how "solid" an investment this would be. Discovery Zone filed for bankruptcy shortly after.
Bankruptcy
Stretched thin by expansion, changes in management tried to save the company; however, Discovery Zone filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 26, 1996 in Wilmington, Delaware with debts of up to $366.8 million.[2]
By the end of 1999, CEC Entertainment had purchased approximately 500 of DZ's locations and turned many of them into Chuck E. Cheese's facilities while shutting down the rest.
Logo History
-
The first and more well-known logo of Discovery Zone that was used from 1989-1998.
-
The alternative logo for Discovery Zone that was used in the mid to late 90's - primarily seen on arcade tokens and former Leaps and Bounds locations. This logo was short-lived.
-
The Final DZ Logo used from 1998-1999 before its shutdown.
References
- ↑ Anderson, Susan Heller (January 23, 1991). "Chronicle". New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
- ↑ Mills, Joshua (March 31, 1996). "Diary". New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2012.