Playton's

Playton's (formerly known as Playton's Pizza, stylized in all caps) was an American chain of family entertainment centers and restaurants founded in 1979. The company was a direct competitor to other chains like Chuck E. Cheese and Discovery Zone. By 1996, the company was the 4th largest chain behind Chuck E. Cheese and Discovery Zone, it also was doing better than McDonald's. The company even collected some stores from struggling brands. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2000, and again in 2002. By 2003, all locations were either converted to Chuck E. Cheese or left abandoned.

History
The company was founded in 1979, under the name Playton's Pizza. The company opened its first location at the Brickyard Mall. In November, a month after the location opened, Carlton met Ray Kroc, who expanded McDonald's nationwide. Kroc decided with Carlton that he will expand the Playton's chain by opening new stores in newer areas. The second location opened on November 29th, as a standalone location. By 1980, the third restaurant opened in New York. The restaurants later featured animatronic shows with a new mascot named Phillip Playton. By 1983, the chain had over 20 locations. In 1985, Jack In The Box, at the time Monterey Jack's, had placed a buying bid on Playton's and gave it the same logo they used. In 1986, Monterey Jack's reverted to its Jack In The Box name, and started opening outlets next to their own restaurants. But in 1989, Jack In The Box decided to sell the chain off to the newly-made The Playton Corporation, which would operate all franchises nationwide. In 1990, The Playton Corporation expanded Playton's worldwide by opening a few franchises in Canada, Mexico, France, and the UK. By 1998, they had over 1,900 locations in the U.S.

Decline
By 1998, the company struggled to compete with others brands like Chuck E. Cheese and Discovery Zone. By August, all locations in Canada had been closed after Tim Hortons decided not to renew the brand. By 1999, all France locations had also been closed. In 2000, Playton's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, they were the biggest chain of restaurants to file for protection. Playton's closed 30 locations, even their second location. They exited bankruptcy in 2001. After bankruptcy, Playton's started to rebrand some of their locations and removing many attractions like the bumper cars. They later started to close restaurants that were connected to Jack In The Box restaurants.

Closure
In 2002, they filed again for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but in December, with operations not staying afloat, they converted to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which meant they had to liquidate all locations. From December 25th until January 30th of 2003, they began to close all locations. On January 30th of 2003, the final location closed its doors, ending the 24-year-old chain.