Stockton, CA (4555 N Pershing Ave)

The store’s exterior shown on a WSB-TV news report on July 5th, 1993.

Stockton, CA (4555 N Pershing Ave) is the sixth Pizza Time Theatre, opening in October of 1979 in Venetian Square, and lasting until 1998.

History

Pre-Opening

The first mention of Stockton would be on December 4th, 1978, nothing that “Franchises for Mann County and the San Joaquin Valley are being considered”.^[3] On December 26th, the planned timeline would be Concord in March, a Southern California location 3 months later, then San Rafael and Stockton.

On January 18th, 1979, the store list under construction would be Concord, Stockton, Sacramento, and Los Angeles.^[2] On February 12th, 1979, the store would be mentioned to open after Concord’s planned opening of April of 1979.^[1] On July 1st, 1979, Stockton would now be planned as the sixth store, opening after Sacramento (Florin Mall), CA (7020 Stockton Blvd) and Huntington Beach, CA (15511 Edwards St).

Opening & 1980’s

The store would open in October of 1979.^[8][9] By December, Lehr Research would complete 200 interviews at the Stockton and Huntington Beach locations to survey the demographic profile of PTT’s customers. In December the store would also hold a Christmas Card Writing Contest addressed to Chuck E. Cheese. Three winners in multiple age brackets would win free dinners at PTT.^[8]

In April of 1980 the store would give away a $1,000 foosball table as a prize in the Venetian Square Grand Opening European Festival. The Chuck E. walkaround would also draw the winning ticket. The Pacifican would also visit the restaurant, explaining the layout with the order counter by the entrance, and the gameroom/showroom to the left of that. Photos also show a kiddie ride in the showroom, meaning possibly both rooms were merged at the location. They also remark the pizza is dissapointing but still generally very good, and that there are “two sets of mechanical hands clapping”, which either implies the multiple characters on the Applause Board, or that there are two Applause Boards like at Concord, CA (1975 Diamond Blvd).^[19]

In May of 1980 it would be noted that the store would soon be recieving Artie Antlers. Dolli is never stated directly as being at the location, but was likely installed beforehand. The store would also have its manager, John Eliasen, move to La Habra, CA (901 Harbor Blvd), with Suzanne Ammirata replacing him as first ever female manager at PTT.^[9]

In December of 1980 another writer at The Pacifican would attend the store, noting they had a good salad bar at a decent price, featuring unlimited trips, cherry tomatoes, sprouts, beans, whole mushrooms, bell peppers, and chilled dressings.^[20]

In late 1982 a dough rolling contest between Stockton and Sacramento, CA (1690-96 Arden Way) to see who could make the post skins in an hour would be held. Bridget Parker of Sacramento would narrowly beat Mike Whitney of Stockton.^[11] In early 1983 the actor John Quade would visit the location and be photographed for The Pizza Times.^[10]

In February or March of 1985, the store would host the ‘Stars of Tomorrow Talent Show’, noting phrases like “Dance”, “Sing”, “Breakdance”, and “Musical Group”.^[22] In October of 1985 the store would have a haunted house that guests could pay 50 cents to enter.^[23]

At some point the store would recieve the PTT 1981 Exterior Update, being seen at the earliest in 1987. The store would also recieve the SPT 1980's Remodel Program some time between then and 1993, where the main sign would stay from the PTT era, but current branding signage would be installed above the main entrance.^[14]

A photo shows the store with Chuck E.'s House Facade at an unknown time, likely installed between 1989-1990.

1990’s & Closing

In 1993 Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza would be advertized on a pocket schedule for the Stockton Ports.^[12] An incident would also occur at the location on July 5th, 1993, where an employee in a Chuck E. Cheese walkaround was mobbed by a group of children and attempted to clear a path by pushing through them. Pushing one girl, her uncle became upset and slapped the employee before pinning him to a wall. Other employees restrained the customer while the customer’s party began throwing cheese from the salad bar on the floor. Police arrived to disperse the scene, though nobody was arrested. It is unclear if charges were ever filed.^[15][16] Raw footage from a news report was uncovered, though the actual report has not been found.^[18]

By 1996 the store would be said to have a 2-Stage installed. The last mention of the store would be on October 18th, 1998 with a set of coupons. It likely closed soon after.^[17]

Animatronics

Attractions