Discovery Zone

Discovery Zone (or DZ for short) was a chain of entertainment facilities featuring games and elaborate indoor mazes designed for young children, including slides, climbing play structures and ball pits. The chain was founded by Ronald Matsch, Jim Jorgensen, Mike Geselbracht and Dr. David Schoenstadt in 1989. The first location was opened in Lenexa, Kansas, in January 1990. 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, The Jungle, and Wonder Camp (a chain that closed in 1997). McDonald's started a similar chain called Leaps and Bounds that merged into Discovery Zone in 1994.

In the 1990s, one of its jingles went like this: "I'm going DZ at Discovery Zone. Discover what I can do on my own! I can jump, swing, crawl, or mountain climb. I'm going DZ, it's one of a kind!". This was written by Benjamin Baer and sung by children. Other slogans were "Funbelievable fitness for kids!", "We're zoned in to Discovery Zone!", and "Where kids want to be!".

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 parent, Viacom).

Bankruptcy

Stretched thin by expansion, changes in management tried to save the company, however (under Viacom's control) Discovery Zone filed for bankruptcy on March 26, 1996 in Wilmington, Delaware with debts of up to $366.8 million.^[2] By the end of 1999, Chuck E. Cheese's had purchased approximately 500 of DZ's locations and turned many of them into Chuck E. Cheese's facilities while shutting down the rest.

References

1. ^ New York Times- "Chronicle" January 23, 1991
2. ^ New York Times- "Diary" March 31, 1996