Dave & Buster's Lays Off 307 Workers At Three MA Locations

WOBURN, MA —Dave & Busters expects to lay off more than 300 employees at its three Massachusetts locations, according to a notice filed this week with Masshire Department of Career Services.

Dave & Buster's said on Thursday it has reopened 84 of its 138 stores after closing them at the peak of the coronavirus crisis. While the company has been able to reopen stores in 27 states, its locations in Massachusetts, Colorado, Michigan, Oregon, New Mexico, New York and Washington. All but one of its California stores remains closed.

The notice to the state signals that Dave & Buster's has moved to lay off workers it had furloughed earlier in the year. A spokesperson for Dave & Buster's was not immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon.

The ongoing layoffs in Massachusetts started in March, when the state closed restaurants as part of an emergency order to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and will continue through Nov. 8. The layoffs include 88 Dave & Buster's workers in Braintree, 110 workers in Natick and 109 workers in Woburn. The Natick location has started advertising for its reopening on Sept. 25.

The emergency order in Massachusetts prohibits video games. Last week a Salem bar filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Charlie Baker saying video games should be allowed in the same way slot machines are currently allowed at the state's casinos.

On Thursday, Dave & Buster's reported disappointing second quarter results. The company's loss of $58.6 million in the three months ended June 30 exceeded estimates by Wall Street analysts. But it missed on analysts' revenue estimates, posting revenue of $344.6 million, down $50.8 million from a year ago.

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).