uWink
{{Short description|American digital entertainment company}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}
{{lowercase title}}
{{Infobox company
| name = uWink, Inc.
| traded_as = {{nasdaq|UWKI}}
| type = Public
| hq_location_city = Los Angeles, California
| hq_location_country = United States
| num_locations = 3
| num_locations_year = 2008
| area_served = California
| founded = {{start date and age|2000}}
| founder = Nolan Bushnell
| defunct = {{start date and age|2010}}
| industry = {{ubl|Entertainment|Dining}}
| logo = UWink.png
}}
uWink, Inc. (stock symbol: UWKI) was a publicly traded digital entertainment company based in Los Angeles, California. The company was founded in 2000 by Nolan Bushnell, the co-founder and former CEO of both Atari and Chuck E. Cheese.{{Cite news |last=Ewers |first=Justin |date=February 18, 2007 |title=Moving Beyond Pong and Pizza |work=U.S. News & World Report |url=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/070218/26eespotlight.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=November 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018202413/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/070218/26eespotlight.htm |archive-date=October 18, 2012}} After little success developing interactive entertainment for restaurants, bars and mobile devices for several years{{Cite web |title=uWink |url=http://uwink.com/index.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011024005549/http://uwink.com/index.shtml |archive-date=October 24, 2001 |access-date=May 2, 2007}} in 2006 the company changed focus to their uWink Bistro concept, which it describes as an "entertainment dining experience which leverages its proprietary network and entertainment software, including the uWink Game Library".{{Cite web |title=About uWink |url=http://www.uwink.com/about |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329014154/http://www.uwink.com/about |archive-date=March 29, 2008}}
uWink's stock opened at $4.75 on July 31, 2007. By December 2012 it was trading at less than one cent.{{Cite web |title=UWKI Advanced Charting |url=http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/uwki/interactive-chart?timeframe=1y&charttype=line#.UQMqPL81mSo |website=Nasdaq}}
Locations, expansions, and closures
File:UWink-MtView-CA-entryway 2009-01-19.jpg
- Woodland Hills, California, opened on October 16, 2006 in Westfield Promenade{{Cite press release |title=uWink Announces Opening of First Restaurant |date=September 27, 2007 |url=http://beta.uwink.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=118 |access-date=May 10, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927133222/http://beta.uwink.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=118 |archive-date=September 27, 2007 |website=uWink |author=uWink}} and closed in January, 2010.{{Cite web |last=Girard |date=February 8, 2010 |title=Without Much Fanfare, uWink Closes Its Woodland Hills Location |url=http://www.hillsofwoodland.com/2010/02/08/without-much-fanfare-uwink-closes-its-woodland-hills-location/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110326022230/http://www.hillsofwoodland.com/2010/02/08/without-much-fanfare-uwink-closes-its-woodland-hills-location/ |archive-date=March 26, 2011 |access-date=August 30, 2010 |website=Hills of Woodland |df=mdy-all}} It received mixed to favorable reviews.{{Cite web |last=Ashcraft |first=Brian |date=October 17, 2006 |title=First (Or Close To It) uWink Restaurant Review |url=http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/first-or-close-to-it-uwink-restaurant-review-208033.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071121071959/http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/first-or-close-to-it-uwink-restaurant-review-208033.php |archive-date=November 21, 2007 |access-date=2007-10-24 |website=Kotaku |df=mdy-all}}{{Cite news |last=Lipson |first=Larry |date=November 2, 2006 |title=It's all about 'u' at interactive eatery uWink |work=Los Angeles Daily News |url=http://www.dailynews.com/dining/ci_4593983 |url-status=dead |access-date=2008-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420095155/http://www.dailynews.com/dining/ci_4593983 |archive-date=April 20, 2008 |df=mdy-all}}
- Hollywood and Highland Center in Hollywood, California, opened on June 27, 2008 and closed on September 12, 2010.{{Cite press release |title=uWink Hollywood Brings New Level of Food and Fun to Hollywood and Highland Entertainment Complex |date=June 17, 2008 |publisher=Businesswire |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20080617005872/en/uWink-Hollywood-Brings-Level-Food-Fun-Hollywood#.VhBNT-ggOlJ |access-date=2008-07-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004124236/http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20080617005872/en/uWink-Hollywood-Brings-Level-Food-Fun-Hollywood |archive-date=2015-10-04 |author=uWink}}
- Mountain View, California, opened on September 15, 2008, closed April 21, 2009, in the Castro Street space formerly occupied by California Roadhouse.{{Cite press release |title=uWink to open in Silicon Valley |date=October 25, 2007 |url=http://www.uwink.com/content/view/178/84/ |access-date=2008-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206064543/http://www.uwink.com/content/view/178/84/ |archive-date=February 6, 2008 |website=uWink |author=uWink}}{{Cite web |last=uWink |title=Mountain View Homepage |url=http://www.uwink.com/restaurants/locations/mvca |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211013211/http://www.uwink.com/restaurants/locations/mvca/ |archive-date=December 11, 2008 |access-date=November 30, 2008 |website=uWink}}{{Cite web |last=Holbrook |first=Stett |date=November 26, 2008 |title=The Poet of Play |url=http://www.metroactive.com/metro/11.26.08/cover-Bushnell-0848.html |access-date=2008-11-30 |website=Metro Silicon Valley}}
On June 11, 2007, uWink announced its first franchise locations would be opened in the Miami, Florida area via an agreement with OCC Partners, LLC.{{Cite web |title=uWink Announces First Franchise Area Development Agreement |url=http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070611/20070611005404.html?.v=1 |access-date=2007-06-11}} {{dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} Under the Area Development Agreement, up to three franchised uWink restaurants were expected to be built in the Miami-Dade County area over the next four years.
On June 25, 2007, uWink announced its first joint venture with venture capital firm Jefferson Partners to open uWink locations in Canada.{{Cite web |title=uWink Announces Plans for Canadian Restaurant Joint Venture |url=http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070625/20070625005602.html?.v=1 |access-date=2007-07-01}} {{dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} Their first bistro was expected to open in Canada by early spring 2008.
During February, 2009, uWink delisted itself from the NASDAQ.{{Cite news |last=Ross |first=Andrew S. |date=February 11, 2009 |title=Enhancing corporate IT departments |work=The San Francisco Chronicle |url=https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Enhancing-corporate-IT-departments-3172205.php}}{{Cite web |last=Fernandez |first=Chris |date=January 20, 2009 |title=uWink Delists Itself |url=https://seekingalpha.com/article/115515-uwink-delists-itself |website=Seeking Alpha}}
During April, 2009, uWink closed its third restaurant in Mountain View, California. uWink blamed the closure on the location's high rent and general difficulties in the American economy. Two restaurants in southern California remained open.{{Cite news |date=April 21, 2009 |title=UWink closes in Mountain View |work=Silicon Valley Business Journal |publisher=The Business Journals |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2009/04/20/daily24.html}}
In January, 2010, uWink closed its first restaurant in Woodland Hills, California.
On September 12, 2010, uWink announced that they were closing all their stores and would be selling their computer services to other food establishments under the name Tapcode.
Legacy
A uWink Eyecom, believed to be an unlaunched model, is held in the collection of The Centre for Computing History in Cambridge, UK.{{Cite web |title=uWink Eyecom |url=http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/48267/uWink-Eyecom/ |access-date=3 February 2021 |website=Centre for Computing History website}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20071210172520/http://www.thestingerreport.com/article_015.htm uWink Bistro Detailed Report] – The Stinger Report
Category:Companies based in Los Angeles
Category:American companies established in 2000
Category:Entertainment companies of the United States