Have a news tip for us?
Just email . Ideas for stories, links to interesting articles, and press releases are welcome.
Theaters
-
August 30, 2006
Small theater chain owners find niches
DURHAM, NC — The Phoenix Theatres chain is succeeding by avoiding competition and offering audiences new amenities. By putting extra thought into the markets they open theaters in and their specific clientele, the chain is becoming extremely popular in its respective areas.
“There is no theater in the north of Durham. You don’t get another theater [heading north] until you get to Roxboro,” said Zacheretti, flashing a smile as he contemplates the competitive landscape. Phoenix Theatres operates 84 screens from Kansas to Florida.
In an industry where the giant chains keep consolidating, small operators such as Phoenix and even smaller independents still find ways to entice moviegoers and make a buck.
For more, read the full story in the News & Observer.
(Thanks to Phoenix Theatres for allowing us to use a photo of their Legends 14 in Kansas City, KS)
2 comments -
August 29, 2006
Now showing: Too much
REDWOOD CITY, CA — Downtown Redwood City was expected to be booming with the opening of a new complex. Instead, it looks like people might have overestimated the need for another multiplex.
The fate of the old movie house off Highway 101 remains a cloudy script, although city officials and business leaders still hope Century Theatres will close it to enhance the draw at the new cinema-retail complex downtown.
As it stands, keeping Century Park 12 along the highway in business has partly been blamed on the sluggish start of the On Broadway complex a mile away. The centerpiece of the complex, a 20-screen cinema, opened July 28.
For more, read the full story in Inside Bay Area.
-
August 25, 2006
New Harkins to go digital
PHOENIX, AZ — Harkins is building a new state-of-the-art multiplex at the center of the Shops of Norterra complex that aims to be all-digital.
Moviegoers will be able to watch movies from new high-back rocker seats when Harkins opens a new 14-screen movie theater at the upcoming “Shops at Norterra.”
The theater scheduled to open in spring 2007 will be just off Interstate 17 at Happy Valley Road and Norterra Parkway.
For more, read the full story at newszap.
-
August 24, 2006
Keith-Albee surges ahead
HUNTINGTON, WV — Even though, it is no longer an operating movie theater, plans are moving ahead for the Keith-Albee’s next generation.
The Keith-Albee Theatre in downtown Huntington is too important to let die. Too important for the downtown, too important to the Marshall Artists Series and too important to the region as a whole.
The theater closed as a movie house in January. Efforts began immediately to save and restore the Keith-Albee as a performing arts center. Last week came word that those plans are progressing.
For more, read the full story in the Herald-Dispatch.
-
August 23, 2006
Music Box Theatre replicated by organist Mark Noller
CHICAGO, IL — The Music Box Theatre’s resident organist, Mark Noller has recreated the theater’s auditorium in his garage, with a similar Allen Organ at its center. Read more in the Chicago Reader.
-
Arizona theater rivalries
TEMPE, AZ — With more and more megaplexes opening in close proximity to each other, this Arizona County is in the midst of a theater chain war.
Blockbuster competition isn’t limited to Talladega Nights vs. World Trade Center.
The country’s largest theater operators are going head-to-head with Scottsdale-based Harkins Theatres by building multimillion-dollar cineplexes closer together than ever, just a mile or two apart in Gilbert, Tempe, Mesa and other parts of the Valley.
In the theater world, that’s close enough to be considered neighbors, but not friendly ones.
For more, read the full story in the Arizona Republic.
-
State Theatre receives donation
CULPEPER, VA — The State Theatre received a large donation to help it reopen as an arts center.
The fire in Atlanta, Ga. – as portrayed in the movie – really burned the city to the ground in 1864. But like the post-Civil War south, the Pitts Theatre – renamed State in 1973 – will rise again.
And the Smoot family – longtime proprietors of Cherry Street Building Supply on Orange Road – is helping to hoist it with a $50,000 donation.
For more, read the full story in the Culpepper Star-Exponent.
-
August 17, 2006
Brattle Theatre in trouble
CAMBRIDGE, MA — The Brattle Theatre is currently in financial trouble due to art-house competition as well as the DVD market.
Six months ago, the Brattle Theatre, the landmark, single-screen art house movie theater in Harvard Square, announced that unless it raised $500,000 in 2006, it would have to close its doors.
The good news is that about halfway to its deadline, the theater has raised about half the money ($270,000). The bad news is that the Brattle’s financial challenges aren’t likely to go away, even if they hit their target.
For more, read the full story in The Somerville Journal.
-
August 16, 2006
Downtown Marshalltown built around Orpheum
MARSHALLTOWN, IA — In Marshalltown, the downtown is being revitalized with a primary emphasis on the Orpheum Theatre at the center.
<blockquoteThe renovation of the Orpheum Theater in downtown Marshalltown may be one of the first steps in the city’s pursuit of the Marshalltown City Center Plan.
The Orpheum proposal has been joined with the Iowa Valley Community College District bond referendum coming this September.
For more, read the full story in the Times-Republican.
-
August 10, 2006
Des Plaines Theatre restoration at standstill
DES PLAINES, IL — In 2003, when brothers Dhitu and Dharmesh Bhagwakar purchased the Des Plaines Theatre in downtown Des Plaines, from a bank which planned to raze the historic landmark in this Chicago suburb and build a drive-thru bank on the site, there was great relief and optimism for the former movie palace.
The Des Plaines Theatre Preservation Society partnered with the building’s new owners, who allowed the group to hold classic film screenings and special events in the twinned theater, while Bollywood features also were screened at the theater. In return for free rent, the Society did volunteer repair work on the old theater, including restoring the Art Deco marquee, plasterwork, and fixing seats, tiles and the restrooms.
As of around six months ago, the Bhagwakars told the Society it would have to start paying rent to continue using the theater, and when the Society declined to pay rent, its repairs and use of the theater began to end.