Information presented here is derived
as directly as possible from sources published or produced in the
original time period. While also consulted extensively, modern historical
retrospectives (including books, oral histories, and especially websites) are
utilized chiefly as pathways to primary sources.
April 3: Edison Brothers Stores,
Inc., announced it had begun the expansion of the Edison Brothers
Entertainment division with the purchase of Adventure Properties, Ltd.
Adventure operated 48 game rooms, mostly under the name Space Port, and one
larger family entertainment center. These units were located
principally in shopping malls. Adventure Properties' sales were about
$12 million in 1989. Andrew E. Newman was EBS chairman. (EBS press release) According
to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) (4/4/90), Adventure
operated 48 video game rooms, primarily in shopping malls in 24 states,
including Atari Adventure at Crestwood Plaza, St. Louis MO. Other
sites included Caesars Palace in Las Vegas NV and Video Adventure at the Disneyland Hotel in
Anaheim CA.
May 5: Together, Adventure Properties Ltd. and
Time-Out Family Amusement Centers, Inc. operated 136 game rooms and 3 larger
family entertainment centers, mostly in shopping malls. (EBS 10-Q)
May 14: Edison Brothers Stores
announced that it would add 88 game rooms and family entertainment centers to
its Edison Brothers Entertainment division by buying Time-Out, a U.S. division of Sega
Enterprises Ltd. of Japan. Time-Out had 1989 sales of about $33 million.
"The operations we are acquiring include some mall entertainment centers
which are among the largest in the nation," said EBS chairman Andrew E.
Newman. The addition of the Time-Out units would give Edison about 140
entertainment operations in 30 states. Martin Sneider was EBS
president. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) 5/15) Time-Out
locations operated as either Time-Out or Station-Break. Locations included Time-Out on the Court, 33,000
ft2 of floor space
at Forest Fair Mall, Forest Park OH near Cincinnati, which was the first amusement
park located within a shopping center when it opened in March 1989.
May 15: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
(Missouri) report reprised that in April Edison Brothers Stores had agreed
to buy 48 video rooms from Adventure Properties Ltd. Most of the video
rooms operated in malls under the Space Port name. One of the rooms
being acquired was in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and another was Video
Adventure at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim CA.
May 25:
Andy Halliday,
previously vp and gm of the Sacha London subsidiary of Edison Brothers
Stores, became president of Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment; Halliday
would also serve as group president of the new Edison Brothers Entertainment
group, which (so far) consisted of Edison Brothers Entertainment, Inc. (Dave & Buster's) and Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment, Inc.
May 28: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
(Missouri) article reported that Adventure Properties Ltd. and Time-Out
Family Amusement Centers, Inc., both being acquired by Edison Brothers
Stores, together operated 134 video game rooms in the 1,500 ft2
range, plus three large entertainment centers from 20,000 ft2 up to
40,000 ft2. Andrew E. Newman was EBS chairman and Martin Sneider was
EBS president.
June 8: Edison Brothers Stores
completed its purchase of (assets of) Adventure Properties, Ltd., which operated 48
amusement game centers, located principally in shopping malls, and 1 larger
mall-based family entertainment center. (6/11 EBS press release)
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Edison
Brothers Mall Entertainment, Inc. |
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July 3: Edison Brothers Stores announced it had completed
its purchase of Time-Out, which operated 88 game rooms and family
entertainment centers in shopping malls.
Time-Out Family Amusement Centers, Inc., was now 100% owned by Edison Brothers
Mall Entertainment, Inc.
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Edison
Brothers Mall Entertainment, Inc. |
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July 19: Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment announced
that it would consolidate its operations in St. Louis from offices in
Fairfax, Va. (home of Time-Out Family Amusement Centers, Inc.), and
Philadelphia, Pa. (home of Adventure Properties, Ltd.). Those offices would
be closed. The EBS Entertainment division currently included seven
employees in St. Louis. The division operated 140 stores and planned
to open five or six more in August. Andy Halliday remained president of Edison
Brothers Mall Entertainment. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) 7/20)
July 31: During the second quarter of 1990, the Edison Brothers Stores
had completed the acquisition of Adventure Properties Ltd., Consolidated
Amusement Company and Time-Out Family Amusement Centers, Inc. Together these
chains operated 130 game rooms and 2 larger family entertainment centers,
mostly in shopping malls. (EBS Annual Reports 2/2/91, 2/2/92, 1/30/93)
August 4: Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment operated
129 game rooms and 3 larger family entertainment centers, mostly in shopping
malls. (EBS 10-Q)
August 6: Article in the
Orange County Register incorrectly referred to Video Adventure at the
Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim CA, by its former name, Atari Adventure. The
name had been changed winter 1988.
November 3: Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment operated
129 game rooms and 3 larger family entertainment centers, mostly in shopping
malls. (EBS 10-Q)
December 31: At year-end Edison Brothers Mall
Entertainment operated 131
entertainment centers, including
129 family entertainment centers and 2 ("of the
country's largest" - "each about 30,000 ft2") anchor entertainment
centers (EBS Annual Report 2/2/91)
1991
February 2:
Andrew Halliday
was Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment President and John Denlinger, Richard P. Long, and George McAuliffe were
vice presidents. In total, the Edison Brothers Entertainment
division operated 133 units (2 Dave & Buster's restaurant/entertainment
complexes; 131 Time-Out and Space Port family entertainment centers. (EBS Annual Report)
April 23: There was an opening for a store
manager at Atari Adventure, Crestview Plaza, St. Louis MO. (source)
September 24:
Edison Brothers Stores established the subsidiary, Horizon Entertainment,
Inc. Horizon Entertainment would join Edison Brothers Entertainmet,
Inc. (Dave & Buster's) and Edison
Brothers Mall Entertainment in the Edison Brothers Entertainment group
headed by group president Andy Halliday.
October 17:
Edison Brothers Stores announced that it
had formed a new division, Horizon Entertainment, to be the exclusive U.S.
distributor of Virtuality, created by W Industries in England under the
direction of Jonathan Waldern. Edison Brothers
Stores also announced that Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment would become the
exclusive mall operator of Laser Storm, developed by Space Sport, a division
of The Crimson Corp. of Denver (no relation to the Space Port arcade
concept). Edison Brothers operated 140-plus mall entertainment
centers. Andrew Newman was chairman of Edison Brothers.
(St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) 10/18/91)
October 18: Article
in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) mentioned the Edison
Brothers Stores Atari
Adventure location at Crestwood Plaza in Crestwood MO.
October 24: Dave & Buster's opened
in Houston (53,000 ft2), its third location.
Fall: Edison Brothers Stores installed some of the
first virtual-reality games in Las Vegas, four machines set up in an arcade
in Caesars Palace. After three months, Edison would move the machines
to company-owned arcades in other cities. (Calgary Herald (Alberta,
Canada) 9/22/94)
November: Edison Brothers Stores featured both Laser Storm
and Virtuality at the
International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions (IAAPA) in Orlando FL.
December 31: Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment
operated 128 primarily mall-based Time-Out and Space Port family amusement
centers and larger family entertainment centers at year end 1991. Dave &
Buster's operated 3 restaurant/entertainment complexes in Texas at year-end
1991. (EBS 10-K 2/1/92)
1992
January 5: Report that game
software for Virtuality, developed by W Industries, distributed by the
Horizon Entertainment unit of Edison Brothers Stores, was being provided by
Spectrum Holobyte (division of Sphere Inc.). Games were to include Dactyl Nightmare. (NYT)
January: Horizon Entertainment and Sphere Inc.
co-founded Cyberstudio to develop games for Virtuality. (Daily Variety
7/16/92)
Feburary 1: Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment
operated 128 locations. Andrew Halliday was President; Richard P. Long
and George McAuliffe were Vice Presidents; Andrew W. Hanshew and John
E. Hayes, Jr. were Assistant Vice Presidents. (EBS Annual Report
for 1991)
March 14: An installation of Virtuality from Horizon
Entertainment opened in St. Louis Union Station, featuring Dactyl Nightmare
and Exorex, games created by Spectrum HoloByte and manufactured by W
Industries of Britain. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) 3/16)
May 11: Grand Opening of The Forum Shops at Caesars,
Las Vegas NV, which included a Namco Cyber Station. Seems
likely that the Atari Adventure at Caesars Palace would have closed by or
around this event.
May 24: Article in The
Grand Rapids Press on Las Vegas NV mentioned that "Atari Adventure arcades are located
in Caesars Palace and the Riviera."
Spring?: The former Atari Adventure at Crestwood
Plaza in St. Louis MO was renovated into the prototype for the new
Exhilarama concept.
June 23: Edison Brothers Stores was launching
Exhilarama, using Virtuality, in four major malls in the East and Midwest. (Daily
Variety 6/23)
August 24: Edison Brothers Stores was building its
first Party Zone entertainment center at Randhurst Mall in Mount Prospect
IL; the company operated 140 Time-Out and
Space Port locations. (Crain's Chicago Business)
September 24: Paramount Pictures,
part of the entertainment operations of Paramount Communications Inc.,
announced it had entered into a licensing agreement with Edison Brothers
Entertainment, Inc., under which Edison Brothers would develop shopping mall-based
virtual reality entertainment centers themed after the Paramount television
series, "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Edison Brothers was to
unveil the first "Star Trek" center in 1993. Initial plans for the centers
included virtual reality attractions as well as restaurants and merchandise
areas. The 'Star Trek' virtual reality attractions were expected to
incorporate software created by Spectrum HoloByte Inc. Brandon
Tartikoff was chairman of Paramount Pictures and Andrew Newman was chairman
of Edison Brothers. (PCI press release) (The project eventually led to
Star Trek: The Experience which opened in January 1998)
September 25: Edison Brothers Entertainment
group company Horizon Entertainment had 10 virtual reality centers in various
cities based on different themes. Two were in St. Louis - one at Union
Station and one at Crestwood Plaza. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch
(Missouri).
October 4: Edison Brothers Stores opened its
first Party Zone entertainment center at Randhurst Mall
in Mount Prospect IL. (Trademarkia for date)
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Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment, Inc. |
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October 10: Edison Brothers Stores opened the
first Exhilarama location (32,000 ft2) at Echelon Mall in Voorhees,
N.J., outside Philadelphia. The concept was based on Edison's 33,000
ft2 Time-Out on the Court at Forest Fair Mall near Cincinnati, and the
new Exhilarama theme had been tested on a smaller scale
at Crestwood Plaza in St. Louis MO earlier in the year. Futures sites
were planned for St. Louis; Cary, N.C., and the Franklin Mills mall in
Northeast Philadelphia. (source
and FunWorld May94p20) (The planned Franklin Mills Exhilarama would not
be built.)
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Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment, Inc. |
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October: Dave & Buster's opened
a 55,000 ft2 location in
Atlanta, its fourth location.
November 4: Edison Brothers Stores had
discontinued use of its "EBS" logo, in use since 3/31/1983 (source)
November/December?: Edison Brothers Mall
Entertainment opened a second Party Zone at The Mall at 163rd Street in
Miami. (Shopping Center World Feb93p62)
December 1992: Edison Brothers Mall
Entertainment renovated its Time-Out on the Court facility at Forest Fair
Mall near Cincinnati, expanding total floor space from 33,000 to 52,000
ft2; while the name would remain Time-Out on the Court, the location
would operate using the Exhilarama
concept. (FunWorld May94p20)
1993
January 4: Edison Brothers Stores opened the
second Exhilarama location, a 23,000 ft2 location (formerly the
mall's movie theaters) at Crestwood Plaza, St. Louis. The next/third
Exhilarama was expected to open in a suburb of Raleigh, N.C. in the spring.
January 30: Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment
operated 130 primarily mall-based Time-Out, Space Port, and Party Zone
family amusement centers and 4 larger mall-based family entertainment
centers, including 2 Exhilarama units, at the end of fiscal 1992.
Andrew Halilday was Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment President; Richard P.
Long and George McAuliffe were vice presidents; William Canner, Andrew W.
Hanshew, and John E. Hayes, Jr. were assistant vice presidents. Dave &
Buster's operated 4 restaurant/entertainment complexes located in Texas and
Georgia at the end of fiscal 1992. (EBS 10-K and Annual
report)
February: In addition to all Exhilarama and
Dave & Buster's locations, Horizon Entertainment had Virtuality games in
place at Mall of America in Bloomington MN, Union Station in St. Louis, and
South Street Seaport in New York (Shopping Center World Feb93p62)
February 25: Report that Edison Brothers no
longer planned an Exhilarama at the Franklin Mills mall in Philadelphia.
(source)
July 4: Edison Brothers Stores had
three Exhilarama virtual reality amusement centers operating in the United
States (NYT) (Three including Time-Out on the Court.)
July 10: Edison Brothers Stores opened an
Exhilarama (the third) in a 26,000 ft2 location at Crossroads
Plaza, Cary, North Carolina. (source)
November 28: "For several years, [Edison
Brothers Stores] has operated arcades on the premises of two casinos in Las
Vegas: Caesars Palace and the Riviera." Crestwood Plaza had one of the
country's 5 Exhilarama locations. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch
(Missouri))
December 11: Official opening of the fourth and
largest-yet Exhilarama, a 47,000 ft2 location at Memorial City Mall
in Houston. (Amusement Business, April 4-10, 1994)
1994
January 29:
Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment operated 128
primarily mall-based Time-Out, Space Port, and Party Zone family amusement
centers and 5 larger mall-based family entertainment centers at the end of
fiscal 1993. Exhilarama operated five mall-based anchor entertainment
centers in Philadelphia, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Raleigh/Durham, and Houston.
At Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment: Andrew Halliday was President; Vice
Presidents were Richard P. Long and George McAuliffe; Assistant Vice
Presidents were William Canner, Andrew W. Hanshew, and John E. Hayes, Jr.
Dave & Buster's operated 4 restaurant/entertainment complexes located in
Texas and Georgia.
(EBS 10-K and Annual Report)
February 15: Grand opening for the new
Dave & Buster's (the fifth), a flagship 70,000 ft2 location on Pier
19 in Philadelphia.
April: Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment owned
and operated 129 Time-Out, Space Port, and Party Zone Entertainment Centers.
(Amusement Business, April 4-10, 1994)
June:
Edison Brothers Stores purchased from Race Rock, Inc., a corporation
wholly-owned by Robert B. Moore, certain of its assets, including its "Race
Rock'" motorsports themed restaurant concept and related intellectual and
personal property, for a purchase price of $1,373,000, plus certain
contingent future payments, with the intention to develop the restaurant
concept into a national chain. (source)
The single Race Rock Motor City Diner location was in Detroit. Andy
Halliday remained Edison Brothers Entertainment group president.
July: Edison Brothers Stores closed the Race Rock Motor
City Diner it had just acquired from Race Rock, Inc., but remained committed
to developing the Race Rock concept into a national chain. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
12/24/95)
1995
January 18: Edison Brothers Stores announced
that Andrew E. Newman and Martin Sneider would retire as chairman and
president of the company, but would remain directors. Alan Miller
would become, chairman, president, and chief executive officer, effective
spring 1995. Also, Karl W. Michner, president of Edison Menswear Group, and
Peter A. Edison, executive vice president for corporate development, would
become senior executive vice presidents in the newly created Office of the
Chairman.
January 28: Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment
operated 129 primarily mall-based Time-Out, Space Port, and Party Zone
family amusement centers and 5 larger mall-based Exhilarama family
entertainment centers. Dave & Buster's operated 3
restaurant/entertainment complexes in Texas,1 in Georgia, and 1 in
Pennsylvania. (EBS 10-K) At Edison Brothers
Mall Entertainment: Andrew Halliday was President; Vice President was George
McAuliffe; Assistant Vice Presidents were William Canner, Andrew W. Hanshew,
and John E. Hayes, Jr. (EBS Annual Report)
February 1: Edison Brothers Stores
announced plans to spin off the Dave & Buster's, Inc., unit of its Entertainment
division. Dallas-based Dave & Buster's operated five
restaurant/entertainment complexes: two in Dallas and one each in Houston,
Atlanta, and Philadelphia (White Flint Mall). Two new Dave & Buster's locations were under
development in downtown and suburban Chicago; they were expected to open
later in 1995. Andrew A. Newman remained EBS chairman.
February 8: Edison Brothers Stores established
the new subsidiaries Race Rock International, Inc. and Race Rock Real
Estate, Inc. The Race Rock subsidiaries would be part of the Edison
Brothers Entertainment group, joining Edison Brothers Entertainment, Inc. (Dave & Buster's), Edison Brothers Mall
Entertainment, and Horizon Entertainment.
February?: Edison Brothers Stores, via
subsidiaries Race Rock International and Race Rock Real Estate, acquired the Caruso's Palace restaurant
in Orlando FL for $3 million to $4 million.
March?: Edison Brothers Stores sold intellectual
property rights held by its Horizon Entertainment, Inc. unit to Ham On Rye
Technologies, Inc., which had been established by Horizon Entertainment
managers Randy and Susan Sprout on March 1, 1995. Horizon Entertainment would continue to
operate established installations of its technologies.
April: Edison Brothers Stores executives Newman
and Martin Sneider departed the company; Alan Miller became
chairman, president, and CEO. (St. Louis
Post-Dispatch (Missouri) 12/24/95 for date)
May 1: Andy Halliday, president of Edison
Brothers Mall Entertainment and group president of Edison Brothers Entertainment, departed the company.
May: Edison Brothers Stores closed Caruso's
Palace in Orlando, planning to convert it to the Race Rock concept.
(St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) 12/24/95)
June 29: Edison Brothers
Stores sold Edison Brothers Entertainment, Inc., including its controlling
interest in Dave & Buster's, Inc. and its five Dave & Buster's locations, to
EBS shareholders. (Dave & Buster's, Inc. would
be merged into Edison Brothers Entertainment, Inc., which would be renamed
Dave & Buster's, Inc.) The Edison Brothers Entertainment group now consisted of
Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment, Horizon Entertainment, Race Rock
International, and Race Rock Real Estate.
July: Edison Brothers Stores sold both the
Caruso's Palace real estate in Orlando (Race Rock Real Estate, Inc.) and the Race Rock concept
(Race Rock International, Inc.) to Race Rock Holdings, Inc., a business
established June 30, 1995 by Race Rock creator Bobby Moore and former EBS
chairman Andrew Newman. (St. Louis
Post-Dispatch (Missouri) 12/24/95 and
source).
The Edison Brothers Entertainment group now consisted of Edison Brothers
Mall Entertainment and Horizon Entertainment.
August 25: Ad by The Walt Disney Company for
Disneyland mentioned Video Adventure at the Disneyland Hotel. (Orange
County Register pShow29)
September 3: Edison Brothers Stores Mall
Entertainment operated five large-format mall entertainment centers called
Exhilarama and 126 smaller arcades called Time-Out and Space Port. (St. Louis
Post-Dispatch (Missouri))
November 3: Edison Brothers Stores
Inc. announced that it had filed for bankruptcy protection from its
creditors, saying it hoped to close 500 of its unprofitable stores before
February. The company's filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington,
Del., covered all 65 of its subsidiaries.
November 4: Edison Brothers operated 134 Time-Out/Space Port
mall-entertainment centers. (Philadelphia
Inquirer)
December 16: Edison Brothers Stores said it was
seeking court approval to sell its entertainment unit (Horizon Entertainment
and Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment units) by Feb. 2,
1996 to Sun Capital, which was based in West Palm Beach, Fla. The units
operated 126 game rooms and larger entertainment centers under the names
Space Port and Time Out. The company's motion allowed for rival bids by Jan.
12. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri))
1996
January 4:
A bankruptcy court had
approved a letter of intent between Edison and Sun Capital Partners Inc. of
West Palm Beach, Fla. Sun, a venture capital firm, would buy Edison's
128 game rooms and larger entertainment centers for a reported $17 million.
Other potential buyers had until Jan. 12 to submit competing bids. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri))
January 19: Edison Brothers Stores, Inc.,
announced that (Aladdin's Castle and Cyberstation location operator)
Namco Cybertainment, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Ltd. of Tokyo,
Japan, would acquire the assets and selected stores of Edison Brothers Mall
Entertainment and Horizon Entertainment, subject to approval by U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Namco was identified as the buyer at an
auction held 1/18/96 in accordance with the EBS court-approved bidding
procedures. Edison's entertainment division operated 128 game rooms and larger entertainment centers under the names Space Port
and Time Out. Peter Edison was Edison SEVP. David B. Cooper.
Jr., was Edison CFO.
January 30: Edison Brothers Stores received
approval of the sale of its mall entertainment division from the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington DE.
February 1: Edison Brothers
Stores Inc. announced that it had completed the sale of its mall entertainment
division to Namco Cybertainment,
a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Ltd., of Tokyo, Japan. The sale
included selected assets and stores of Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment
and Horizon Entertainment, which operated 128 game rooms and larger
entertainment centers. Namco would now operate 105 of these units
(including two Exhilarama locations), and had the right to acquire the other
23 (including the other three Exhilarama locations) if current leases could
be renegotiated to its favor. The purchase price
was about $15 million, and the purchase raised the number of Namco's
amusement facilities in the U.S. to 420. Peter Edison was Edison SEVP;
David B. Cooper, Jr., was Edison CFO. Kevin Hayes was president of
Namco America and Namco Cybertainment.
(2/1/96 EBS press release;
source)
Edison
Brothers Mall Entertainment, Inc.
February 3: Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment
operated 21 entertainment centers at the end of fiscal 1995. (EBS 10-K
2/1/97)
May 30: Namco Cybertainment
facilities included Cyberstation, Aladdin's Castle, Time Out and Space Port;
prestigious locations included Pier 39 in San Francisco; Church Street
Station in Orlando, Universal Studios Florida; and Mirage and Treasure
Island in Las Vegas.
November/December:
Party Zone at Randhurst Mall in Mount Prospect IL closed.
1997
February 1: Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment operated two
entertainment centers, which it intended to close by September, 1997.
(EBS 10-K)
September 17: Edison Brothers Mall
Entertainment, Inc., along with Horizon Entertainment, Inc., were both
merged into Edison Brothers Apparel Stores, Inc.
September 26: Edison Brothers
Stores emerged from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization (entered
November 3, 1995).
1999
March 9: Edison Brothers Stores,
Inc. filed a voluntary petition for relief under the provisions of Chapter
11 of the Bankruptcy Code.
2000
July 5: The voluntary 3/9/99
petition of Edison Brothers Stores, Inc for reorganization under Chapter 11
was converted to Chapter 7 (liquidation).
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last updated: 2022.03.28