Remembering the Teen Dances at Showbiz Pizza, Jackson (1982-1985)

Back in the 1980s on Argyle Street there was a place where families could go eat pizza, kids could play arcade games, and everyone could listen to music being played by a band made up of fuzzy animals.

That place is now a Big Lots, right next to the Argyle Street location of Kroger.

Showbiz Pizza opened in that location in November 1982, with 60 arcade games and enough seating for 300 customers. It wasn’t so bad for the adults as one might think, with all the noise from the kids in the arcade....there was a room where parents could go to get away from all that racket.

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Showbiz started to become a place for the teens to hang out and loiter, upsetting customers. In 1984, an attempt was made to appease everyone by enforcing a rule that no juvenile under the age of 18 could enter after 6pm without an adult.

Not wanting to lose the teens completely, Showbiz started holding teen dances in July 1984 for kids ages 13 thru 18. With a capacity of 472, the place was always packed. I was fortunate to be one of the deejays that spun tunes there a few times.

The dances lasted for about a year, when in 1985 that was it for the entire place. Showbiz merged with Chuck E. Cheese, and the joint completely closed that same year. It sat vacant until 1987 when it was acquired by Big Lots, which it remains to this day.