GCC Fremont Hub 8 Cinemas

Update: Demolishion has started on this theater. I drove by it today and half the building was already torn down.

Drove by yesterday and all that remains is a big lot...

A Petco now sits on this site.

This is a 7/14/1999 article about the closing of this theater.

"Fremont, Calif., Movie Theater Closes after 13 Years.

Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Author: Akizuki, Dennis

Jul. 14 -- Even as a $10 million renovation is busily taking shape, the landmark Fremont Hub shopping center has suffered another blow with the closing of the General Cinema Fremont Hub 8 theater, the victim of the new modern megaplex in Union City.

Despite the latest setback for the 36-year-old center, the Hub's owners are confident that the ambitious face lift, coupled with new tenants, will create a tonier atmosphere that will attract more customers.

Until last week, Fremont had four movie theaters: the Naz Cinema, Super Saver Cinema, Cinedome Eight East and the Fremont Hub 8. But with little warning to customers, the 2,300-seat theater complex on Argonaut Way sold its last box of popcorn Thursday and then turned out the lights for the final time.

Until the 25-screen Century 25 opened its doors in Union City on May 18, the 13-year-old Hub theater was doing just fine.

"Business had been very good until the 25 (screens) opened," said Brian Callaghan, spokesman for General Cinema Corp. of Massachusetts, which operated the Hub cinema. "With the opening of the megaplex, (business) took a decidedly downward trend."

General Cinema concluded the trend was permanent. And the decision came down a couple of weeks ago to close the theater.

Just a decade ago, eight-to-10-screen theaters were the giants of the industry, according to Callaghan. But the huge megaplexes have become more popular and are the new standard, with stadium-style seating, digital sound and bigger snack bars.

Century Theatres, which owns the Union City megaplex, also intends to replace the Cinedome Seven West in Newark with a 20-screen complex attached to NewPark Mall.

General Cinema, which operates 140 theaters with about 1,100 screens nationwide, has no immediate plans for another complex in the Fremont area.

"You hate to see somebody go like that, but when somebody goes like that, it creates an opportunity for somebody else," said Jay Greenwood, the Hub's new general manager. He added that the center is already marketing the theater space to prospective tenants.

The Hub is in the midst of a makeover, which will include new paint, landscaping, trellises and decorative towers. Greenwood said a pedestrian entrance is under construction on the west side of the center, and all the entrances will have a new airy feel intended to make it more inviting.

One new tenant is Bed Bath and Beyond, a home furnishing store that will take up about 35,000 square feet of the former Home Express store site, which is next to the new pedestrian entrance. Greenwood expects to announce more tenants sometime this fall.

Over the years, the Hub has had difficulty attracting shoppers and keeping major tenants such as Mervyn's, which moved to NewPark Mall. Home Express closed its doors before the latest renovation began.

The new-look Hub will be ready by Thanksgiving.

"It will have a completely different tenant mix," Greenwood said. "It will have a very upscale feel to it".