uWink closes newest, 6-month-old unituWink closes newest, 6-month-old unit

Lisa Jennings

LOS ANGELES uWink, the technology-focused restaurant chain based here, last week closed its newest unit in Mountain View, Calif., just six months after it opened.

Once touted as the ideal concept for the tech-savvy Silicon Valley community, the Mountain View uWink, which opened in September 2008, was the chain’s third and most recent unit to open. Alissa Tappan, uWink vice president of marketing, said sales at the unit were steady, but the location’s “lease structure made no sense in this economic environment.”

According to the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the 6,715-square-foot location had a rent of $228,000 annually, with adjustments tied to inflation capped at 5 percent, plus a pro-rata share of the property’s operating expenses.

The uWink concept, which features table-top computer terminals on which customers can order, play games and pay, first debuted in 2006 in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills, Calif. The second unit opened in Hollywood. The concept was developed by Nolan Bushnell, founder of both the Atari video games and the Chuck E. Cheese’s family-dining chain.

Tappan, who is also Bushnell’s daughter, said sales are “holding steady” at the two remaining locations and that she was not aware of any plans to close other locations.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2008, revenues at the Woodland Hills location were $338,232, down 48.7 percent from $659,560 in the year earlier quarter. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, revenues were $1.3 million, down 31.3 percent from $1.9 million for the comparable period in 2007.

In February, parent company uWink Inc. went private in a move officials at the time said would save the company about $190,000 annually in fees tied to public reporting requirements.

The company also spun off its technology licensing division, which offers the table-top technology and touch-screen hardware and software to other foodservice operators.

In the past, uWink officials had announced plans to expand the brand into Canada and a franchise agreement with an operator in Florida. Tappan, however, said all such expansion plans are currently on hold.

“It’s just a very uncertain time,” she said.

Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].