Financial research concept

Entertainment Venue New Store Openings

measures new entertainment venues opened during a reporting period.

By Lee BaileyPublished Sep 26, 2026

Research context

See what supports this page, how current it is, and where comparable or historical context is available.

Research date: Sep 26, 2026Use the dated article and cited sources for the definition, examples, and stated limitations.
Operating-model context: 17 connected conceptsPart of the reviewed Entertainment Venue Store Economics; issuer definitions remain distinct where disclosed.
Company examples: 1 reviewed companyRelationships reflect supported examples, not a normalized cross-company KPI ranking.

Openings are a flow, not the ending footprint
A new store enters results before it enters the comparable base
Each opening brings both upfront and maturation economics
Part of the Entertainment Venue Store Economics
See It in Company Research
Continue Research

Entertainment venue new-store openings measure the gross number of new venues that begin operating during a reporting period.

Dave & Buster's opened 11 new stores in fiscal 2025 and relocated one additional Dave & Buster's store. Fiscal 2024 had 14 new openings.

Openings are a flow, not the ending footprint

The company ended fiscal 2025 with 243 company-owned stores.

That ending count reflects the accumulated effect of openings, relocations, closures, and other footprint changes. It therefore should not be interpreted as prior-year store count plus current-year openings.

Use company-owned store count for period-end scale and openings for the annual expansion flow.

A new store enters results before it enters the comparable base

New locations immediately contribute revenue and operating costs, but Dave & Buster's historically waits until a store has been owned and open for a full 18 months before the beginning of the fiscal year before including it in the comparable-store base.

That timing means openings can lift total revenue while remaining outside comparable-store sales for an extended period.

Each opening brings both upfront and maturation economics

New stores require construction capital, pre-opening costs, staffing, and launch work before settling into mature operations.

They can also benefit from a first-year honeymoon effect, so opening counts alone do not reveal steady-state unit economics.

Primary source: Dave & Buster's fiscal 2025 Form 10-K.

Part of the Entertainment Venue Store Economics

Connects entertainment and dining revenue mix with product-cost rates, comparable-store performance, new-store development and maturation, operating-cost leverage, pre-opening expense, and capital reinvestment for large-format entertainment venues.

Browse the full operating model in Company Analysis →

Where this concept fits

Footprint expansion, launch expense, and capital reinvestmentCurrent relationship
Ending company-owned store count and new-store openings show the physical venue base and expansion flow. Pre-opening costs capture launch expense before operations begin, while capital expenditures show cash invested in new stores, remodels, games, technology, and other property and equipment.
Capital Expenditures Company-Owned Store CountNew Store OpeningsCurrent conceptPre-Opening Costs
Revenue mix, direct product costs, and store-level operating leverage
Entertainment and food-and-beverage revenue mix show what customers spend on inside the venue. Their direct product cost rates preserve different denominators, while payroll and other store operating expense rates show additional store-level cost intensity against total revenue.
Entertainment Cost Rate Entertainment Revenue Entertainment Revenue Mix Food & Beverage Cost Rate Food & Beverage Revenue Food & Beverage Revenue Mix Operating Payroll Rate Other Store Operating Expense Rate
Seasoned-store performance, noncomparable exposure, and new-store maturation
Comparable-store sales growth measures the seasoned base, while comparable and noncomparable operating weeks expose the time contribution behind each population. The comparable-store base count and honeymoon effect help distinguish mature-store performance from early new-store sales patterns.
Comparable Store Base Count Comparable Store Operating Weeks Comparable Store Sales Growth New Store Honeymoon Effect Noncomparable Store Operating Weeks

See It in Company Research

These companies are examples of how the concept is reported or discussed in public filings. Definitions can differ by issuer; these links open company research rather than a normalized metric comparison.

PLAYOpen operating-model research →17 of 17 reviewed concepts in Entertainment Venue Store EconomicsFootprint expansion, launch expense, and capital reinvestment4 of 4 bridge concepts supportedContinue through this bridge:Capital Expenditures Company-Owned Store Count Pre-Opening Costs

Continue Research

Continue from the concept into the Grizzly Bulls research surface that best matches the next question. These links are research continuations, not recommendations or required steps.

Compare stocks

Compare unit expansion

Compare store-opening pace with capital needs, noncomparable exposure, and the mature-store base.

Continue research

Explore more topics in the Financial Research Encyclopedia.