Randy Jones Helps Dave & Buster’s Transform After Its Acquisition of Main Event

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In June 2022, Dave & Buster’s announced the completion of its acquisition of family entertainment company Main Event, transforming Dave & Buster’s into a two-brand powerhouse in the entertainment industry. As soon as the deal was signed, Dave & Buster’s acquired fifty bowling, laser tag, and entertainment complexes across seventeen states.

At the time, Dave & Buster’s already boasted 147 locations spread across 41 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada. But increasing a company’s footprint by 33 percent overnight isn’t a task for the faint of heart.

That’s when Randy Jones’s phone rang. The financial management leader and accounting expert had spent the past decade at Brinker International and Lennox International, and his combination of accounting, audit, and finance experience made him the ideal change agent to help the quickly growing Dave & Buster’s.

Jones, vice president of accounting and controller at Dave & Buster’s since July 2022, was given a mandate for transformation.

“Success as an accounting leader is a combination of having good partners and having the kind of experience to know what needs to be done when and what’s important right now and what is not.”

Randy Jones

“I was brought in to help integrate the Dave & Buster’s and Main Event accounting teams, implement new systems, implement new processes around those systems, and bring significant change on the operational, accounting, and corporate sides of the business,” he says. “Fortunately, I wasn’t alone.”

As part of the Main Event acquisition, a new leadership team was brought aboard to help Dave & Buster’s establish its new future as a clear leader in the entertainment industry. One of the many investments made by the new leadership team was a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation.

Anyone who has been involved in a new ERP rollout understands the complexity and, at times, incredible stress that the process can effectuate. But in all things, Jones is a cool customer. He says that as a key stakeholder and coleader of the ERP implementation, the alignment between himself and Ayotunde Gibbs, the VP of enterprise systems and data at the company, has been critical to the project’s success. The two bounce ideas off of each other, align on priorities and direction, and communicate on a daily basis to help move the massive project forward.

Outside Accounting

Part of Jones’s ability to drive change lies in his skills connecting with other stakeholders outside of the traditional purview of accounting. The VP says had he just spent his career strictly in the accounting space, he’s not sure he would be equipped with the kind of cross-collaboration skills that have made him so effective as a change agent.

“I had roles earlier in my career that have helped me understand the business needs of an organization outside of the accounting department,” Jones says. “Without that experience, I wouldn’t know the finance requirements that go with changing systems, and I wouldn’t understand how to align with people outside of my department. Success as an accounting leader is a combination of having good partners and having the kind of experience to know what needs to be done when and what’s important right now and what is not.”

The VP says he’s been blessed with a high-functioning team at Dave & Buster’s, one he can trust and depend on to lead its own functional teams. Jones often talks with his reports about the shared vision of the company, how to achieve that vision, and how to juggle their primary accounting responsibilities with the demands brought by the systems implementation. When everyone sees the bigger picture, Jones explains, alignment, and success are more achievable.  

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Find a Way to Add Value

Many of the wins in Jones’s professional career began at home base. Jones says his years of playing baseball impacted the way he leads today and continuously pushes him to win. But his definition of winning has changed over time.

“Early in my career, winning was about gaining experience and earning promotions with greater responsibilities. Now, winning to me is about adding value to the business,” Jones says. “Whatever your role, find a way to add value. If you’re an accounting analyst, find a way to do your job better, faster, smarter, and simpler. In my role as controller, I try to add value by identifying business development opportunities and executing on the company’s strategic initiatives. I also try to add value to my team by preparing them to be future leaders.”

“Randy and his team at Dave & Buster’s have shown how powerful an ERP solution can be for a company, leading to great success,” says Kevin Elmore, chairman and partner at TopBloc. “At TopBloc, we focus on our client’s success, creating custom solutions just for them. We’re happy to be part of their success story.”

Jones says his skill in communicating across departments wasn’t one that came naturally to him; it was something he had to actively work on. But now his ability to communicate his thoughts, expectations, and complex ideas is a pride point.

After all this time, Jones remains as hungry as ever. Growth is his ethos, and he’s at the right place. Dave & Buster’s is now bigger and better than ever, and Jones aims to keep it that way.

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