View source for San Jose, CA (1371 Kooser Rd)

{| class="wikitable cep-infobox" style="float:right; clear:right; margin:0 0 1em 1.5em; width:24em; max-width:100%;"
! colspan="2" | Source metadata
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | [[File:San Jose, CA (1371 Kooser Rd) - Kooser Rd.'s exterior in 2018.avif|frameless|300px]]
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top; width:35%;" | Type
| Locations
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top; width:35%;" | Dates
| 1978-12-02 – 2020-06-25
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top; width:35%;" | Floor space
| 19,000
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top; width:35%;" | Coordinates
| 37.24507007, -121.8898435
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top; width:35%;" | Tags
| Pizza Time Theatre
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top; width:35%;" | Contributors
| sudo-trans-pony
|-
! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top; width:35%;" | Downloads
| [https://archive.org/download/pizza-time-theatre-kooser-plans Building Plans & Permits (1961-1996)]<br>[https://archive.org/details/huntington-beach-kooser-rd-building-plans/Administrative_Reviews_ARX1979029_-_Supporting_Documents-2.pdf Kooser Road Fact Sheet (December 4th, 1978)]
|}

'''''San Jose, CA (1371 Kooser Rd) Store #404''''' was a franchised ''Pizza Time Theatre'' that opened on December 2, 1978, with a Portrait Show, and closed on June 25, 2020. This location is the second-ever Pizza Time Theatre location and was the oldest location in the company until 2020. 

== History ==

Before its debut as a Pizza Time Theatre, ''1371 Kooser Rd'' originally housed a grocery store in the 1960s.(1) Pizza Time Theatre would keep the original flooring and lighting used in this grocery store for its first few months open before removing and replacing both with standardized tiling and lighting.(2) The store itself had a square foot of 18,348 unlike Winchester's square foot of 5,000. (Thus, making it the largest pizza parlor in the city.) The size of This location gave an opportunity to have a dedicated room for its [[Kooser PTT Show]], which was programmed via a recording booth nearby with a window looking towards the characters. The nearby Dolli Dimples cabaret show originally had a Jukebox-like show selector. This would utilize tokens and would give guests the opportunity to select Dolli's next act. Some time between opening and October of 1979, the location would have its tiled white showroom floors replaced with brown tiling similar to other Pizza Time Theatres of the time.(3) In April of 1980, it was announced that the Kooser Rd. Pizza Time Theatre received new staging that moved all of the characters onto one wall and new [[Cyberamics]]. This new stage would be called 'The Showboat', appearing to have been designed after a vintage steamboat.(4) In 1980 a fundraiser for Laurelwood Elementary School in Santa Clara, CA. Which, the Kooser Rd. Pizza Time Theatre raffle off coupons. Shortly after, the store's Mike Berkeland and Tony Welch attended the March of Dimes Walk-A-Thon. Mike would be in the Chuck E. Cheese mascot suit while Tony would escort him. To provide the two rest stops, Mike's brother Rob would drive his van nearby.(0) In 1981 the Kooser Pizza Time Theatre would remodel for the first time. This remodel included a complete overhaul to Fantasy Forest, color-coded rooms signage, and exterior remodel moving the entrances that were left behind from the grocery store were removed and placed in the front. (The old left entrance was replaced by a set of windows.)(5) On October 22, 1984, the location was purchased by Pizza Time Theatre, later being re-franchised due to the bankruptcy that followed shortly after. In 1983 the location received [[Cheese E. Street]], an indoor funhouse that bought guests through tubes, slides, ladders, and tunnels. This store in particular would premiere Cheese E. Street on April 22, 1983, at 1:00 PM as an event.(6)

=== Chuck E. Cheese's ===

The store would remodel once again in 1991 during the 1986 SPT Remodel Program, which completely redid the store's floorplan, most notably lowering the ceiling.(7) On March 1, 1993, the location would be purchased by ShowBiz Pizza Time and then remodeled in 1996 during the 1990s Major Remodel|1994 remodel program, in the process, also receiving [[Phase 1 (1994)]].http://csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov/ecmsviewer/902/940/3940902.pdf In 2006 the store would be a part of the ever-growing 2003 'Cool Chuck' Reconfiguration / Major Remodel Initiative|'Cool Chuck' remodel initiative, which remodeled the store once again. (8)(9) For 2016 it was remodeled for the final time during the short-lived 2015 remodel program, which was most likely done to drive business back to the location as it lost popularity. (10) During this time it was rumored that the rectangular holes for the portrait frames the characters were placed in were still above the drop ceiling. The 2-Stage, much like its sister location on San Jose (Tully), CA (2445 Fontaine Rd), rapidly declined in condition, although many customizations were made to the show. Such as Chuck E. sporting a walkaround shirt for a period of time, or the rope lights that were added to the cityscape, and the fiber-optic sign being placed where the CRT TV was just like Stafford, TX (11920 Southwest Fwy).

=== Closure ===

In the location's day, it was consistently being overshadowed by the nearby San Jose (Tully), CA (2445 Fontaine Rd) location, which was larger and attracted more guests. This alongside the COVID-19 pandemic put stress on the store, which lead to its permanent closure on June 25, 2020. Until 2020 the show remained virtually untouched aside from cosmetic changes. After closure, the show was destroyed as per CEC Entertainment policy. The remains of the show were later sold for parts on Ebay. The entire store was left a mess and had all CEC branding disposed of or vandalized. On February 26, 2021, the Bay Area NBC News covered how the land would be purchased and utilized for an affordable housing project.

<blockquote>For the second time in a week, a developer has proposed building a 100% affordable housing project at the site of a closed chain restaurant in South San Jose, according to the Mercury News. Affirmed Housing has submitted its proposal to city planners for a project to be built on a 1.6-acre parcel at 1371 Kooser Road, near Blossom Hill Road, where a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant closed last year amid financial woes caused by the pandemic, the newspaper reported. The site is just down the road from another proposed affordable housing project targeting a lot on Blossom Hill Road where a Fish Market restaurant now stands and saw a similar fate. The Kooser Road project would consist of nearly 200 units and include amenities such as restaurants and retail, according to the report. Affirmed Housing already has obtained a contract to buy the property, the newspaper said.(11)</blockquote>

=== Remodels & initiatives ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Name !! Start !! End !! Serial !! Notes
|-
| [[PTT Standard Layout]] || 1978-12-02 ||  ||  || 
|-
| [[PTT Early Cyberamic Replacements]] || 1983 ||  ||  || 
|}

=== Stages ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Name !! Start !! End !! Serial !! Notes
|-
| [[Kooser PTT Show]] || 1978-12-02 || 1980-04 ||  || 2-Wall
|-
| [[Balcony Stage]] || 1980-04 ||  ||  || 
|-
| [[2-Stage]] || 1993 || 2020-06 ||  || One of many installed in California. Second CEC to ever open.
|}

=== Attractions ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Name !! Start !! End !! Serial !! Notes
|-
| [[Cheese Crawl]] || 1978-12-02 ||  ||  || Non-Standard
|}

== Source citations ==
* [http://csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov/ecmsviewer/148/836/3836148.pdf csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov]
* [http://csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov/ecmsviewer/474/391/3391474.pdf csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov]
* [https://www.showbizpizza.com/info/documents/ptt/ptt_pizzatimes-1980.pdf showbizpizza.com]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamboat en.wikipedia.org]
* [http://csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov/ecmsviewer/210/393/3393210.pdf csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov]
* [https://www.showbizpizza.com/info/documents/ptt/ptt_promosheets.pdf showbizpizza.com]
* [http://csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov/ecmsviewer/028/404/3404028.pdf csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov]
* [http://csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov/ecmsviewer/275/979/7979275.pdf csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov]
* [http://csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov/ecmsviewer/258/960/7960258.pdf csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov]
* [http://csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov/ecmsviewer/762/001/45001762.pdf csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov]
* [https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/making-it-in-the-bay/affordable-housing-proposed-for-former-chuck-e-cheese-site-in-san-jose-report/2479008/ nbcbayarea.com]
* [https://archive.org/details/popularelectroni16unse_1/page/110/mode/2up?q=%22pizza+time+theatre%22 archive.org]

== Import provenance ==
Imported from [https://github.com/The64thGamer/cheeseepedia/tree/274f085c7132d784f81b7a4cbd96e7a0922db854 Cheese-E-Pedia] at source revision <code>274f085c7132d784f81b7a4cbd96e7a0922db854</code>. Source material is provided under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ CC BY-SA 4.0].