Dave & Buster’s reported a net loss of $5.2 million in the third quarter, even as the Coppell-based entertainment company continues to open stores, remodel others, and rebrand itself.
“During the quarter, we continued to make significant progress against our key growth initiatives,” CEO Chris Morris said in a prepared statement. “On the organic growth front, we have seen meaningful success in the tests we have implemented in our marketing, food and beverage, pricing, special events, and remodel initiatives which we look forward to rolling out across the broader portfolio over the coming weeks and months and which we expect will lead to substantial improvement in revenue and profitability.”
The company reported third-quarter revenue of $466.9 million — down 3% from the same period a year ago. Comparable store sales, including Main Event branded locations, fell 7.8% compared to the third quarter of 2022. Dave & Buster’s acquired Main Event last year and retained its leadership team.
“We also continued to open new stores at highly attractive returns on our investment and have continued to opportunistically return capital to shareholders in a highly accretive manner,” Morris said.
Dave & Buster’s ended the third quarter with $554.2 million of liquidity, including $64 million in cash. It also repurchased 2.8 million shares for $100 million, leaving the same amount remaining on its share-repurchase authorization.
Additionally, the company opened two Dave & Buster’s and one Main Event store in the third quarter and entered a sale-leaseback transaction with “an institutional real estate investor” for four Dave & Buster’s stores.
That transaction, according to the company, generated $85.8 million. The Dallas Express asked a company representative about the location of the stores and the identity of the investor but did not hear back by press time.
Founded in Dallas in 1982, Dave & Buster’s operates more than 140 locations. The company has been acquired or partially acquired three times since 1989.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the company recently moved its headquarters from Dallas to Coppell.
