If you’ve ever been to a Dave & Buster’s, you probably spent your evening eating bar food, watching sports, and playing games, and not exactly pondering the chain’s namesakes. Odds are you don’t even know if Dave and Buster actually exist, and have never even thought about it. But you’re reading this article, so your curiosity must have at least been piqued.
So yes, there is in fact a Dave and a Buster.
Dave and Buster are David Corriveau and James “Buster” Corley, who met in Little Rock, Arkansas, in early 1978. Corriveau opened his first business, a “saloon and game parlor” called Cash McCool’s, in 1975 at age 24, and two years later followed up on his success with Slick Willy’s World of Entertainment. Corley ran a popular bar called Buster’s, which he opened in 1978 right next door to Cash McCool’s, and it quickly gained a reputation as a hangout for yuppies, local politicians, and some unsavory types.
The neighbors quickly bonded, and by 1982 they’d decided to move to Dallas and start their own business, which they called Dave & Buster’s. They ran the company as co-CEOs, with Corley handling food and beverage and Corriveau managing the games and entertainment side.
It was a perfect partnership, and the concept took off. By 1989, the duo were able to sell a majority stake in the company to a St. Louis-based retain conglomerate called Edison Brothers, and they stayed on board to help oversee its expansion.
Corriveau sadly passed away unexpectedly in 2015 at age 63; he was remembered in his obituary for “his enthusiasm, generosity, zest for life, and concern for others,” and seemed like an all-around nice guy. Corley is still involved with the company. For more fascinating facts about Dave & Buster’s, click here.
