CEC Entertainment EVP and CFO Chris Monroe [Photo: CEC Entertainment]
Irving-based CEC Entertainment—parent company of Chuck E. Cheese and Peter Piper Pizza—has appointed Chris Monroe to the roles of executive vice president and chief financial officer. Monroe brings more than 30 years of financial leadership experience across the restaurant, aviation, and defense sectors, CED said, and joins the company “at a moment of continued momentum and ambitious forward growth.”
Monroe will be focused on optimizing the company’s many initiatives including memberships, fun passes, active play expansion, and maximizing growth-focused investments, and will oversee CEC’s finance functions and real estate development teams.
He most recently served as CFO of Louisville, Kentucky-based Texas Roadhouse, where he led all finance, treasury, FP&A, investor relations, tax, and risk management functions for the $12 billion market cap international restaurant chain with more than 750 locations, CEC said.
Prior to Texas Roadhouse, Monroe spent more than three decades at Southwest Airlines, ultimately serving as SVP of finance, treasurer, and sustainability. He has served as a board and audit committee member at Airborn Inc., a $280 million aerospace and defense ESOP.
Monroe called CEC Entertainment “a brand with extraordinary reach, a loyal guest base, and a leadership team that is executing with real intention.”
“The scale of this business—600-plus locations across 18 countries, tens of millions of guest visits annually—is matched by the ambition of where this company is headed,” he added in a statement. “I’m energized by the opportunity to bring my experience to bear on the next chapter of CEC’s growth story and help build a financial foundation that will support this brand for decades to come.”
Scott Drake, president and CEO of CEC Entertainment, said Monroe is “exactly the kind of executive we needed at this stage of our journey.”
“His combination of large-scale restaurant finance expertise, capital markets experience, and proven ability to drive operational performance through data and discipline makes him the right leader to partner with our team as we continue to invest in our brands, our guests, and our future,” Drake added in a statement.
Drake had been CFO at CEC Entertainment until his promotion to the company’s top post in February.
Monroe will be based at the CEC Entertainment corporate support center in Irving. He holds a BBA in finance from Abilene Christian University.
Last November, Chuck E. Cheese made a move to reimagine “what family play can be” with an all-new concept that opened in Arlington. The new venue, Chuck E. Cheese Adventure World, is the company’s first 12,000-square-foot indoor playground focused entirely on active play.
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