Mall of Memphis Cinema

The Mall of Memphis was just South of Loop 240 and Nonconnah Creek and just East of Getwell Road. It was built on the landfills of the 1930s and was very impressive, with two or three levels, a skating rink, the usual mix of retailers, and the theater complex. You could stand in the middle of the upper level promenade and feel the floor vibrate as people walked by--not very confidence-inspiring. The theater had an entrance separate from the mall, and was curiously sterile-looking. It always reminded me of the sets from "THX-1138." The auditoriums were small and unpretentious. Saw Meg Ryan, Dennis Quaid, and Martin Short in "Innerspace" there in the late 1980s, while suffering from mild food poisoning--a memorable experience.

This is a 9/28/2000 article about the closing of the Mall of Memphis Cinema.


"Memphis, Tenn., Movie Theater Expected to Close.

Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Author: Moore, Linda A.

Sep. 28--The Mall of Memphis Cinema, the last General Cinema theater in Memphis and in Tennessee, is expected to close operations at the five-screen theater this week.

On Wednesday, theater employees were telling customers Thursday today would be the last day of operation.

Theater management referred questions to the company's corporate headquarters in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Officials there would not discuss the expected closing.

"We're not giving any official statements about any theater's future operations," said Brian Callaghan, spokesman for General Cinema.

Officials at the Mall of Memphis said Wednesday that they had not been told of the closing.

"We've received absolutely no notice of General Cinema closing," said Heather Webb, marketing director for the mall.

Webb also said that the company has substantial time left on a long-term lease, although she would not say how long the lease was.

In March, mall officials announced the construction of a 12-screen, 50,000-square-foot stadium-seat theater with an undisclosed company, as part of a more than $18 million mall renovation project.

Officials with American Mall Properties LLC Inc., mall owners, are still negotiating the deal, said Webb, who could not release further details.

General Cinema's impending departure from Memphis and Tennessee comes a week after its parent company GC Companies Inc. said in quarterly filings that it may consider a bankruptcy reorganization due to stiff competition and bad investments.

Last month, the company reported third-quarter losses of $10.1 million along with $17 million in losses for the fiscal year's first nine months, which ended July 31.

GC Companies closed Wednesday at $3.25, down $0.125 with 9,800 shares trading.

During the last 52 weeks, company shares traded as high as $35.75 and as low as $2.37.

General Cinema operates approximately 1,060cq screens at about 130cq theaters in the United States. The nearly 80year-old company also operates 135cq screens in 14cq locations in South America.

Problems at General Cinema reflect overall problems with the movie theater industry, which is in great turmoil, said Michael Florin, an analyst with Gerard Klauer Mattison & Co. Inc., an institutional research and investment banking company.

United Artists Theater Co., Carmike Cinemas and Edwards Theater Circuit Inc. all have filed for bankruptcy this year.

"The industry as a whole is really going through problems," Florin said.

The problem, he said, is that the theater companies have overbuilt the megaplex movie theaters and saturated the market.

"Film exhibition is not a growth industry," Florin said. "You're never going to up attendance by 30 (percent) or 40 percent a year."

With so many theaters and films opening on 3,000 or 4,000 screens instead of 1,500 screens, they play out quickly, he said.

Theater companies are now in a situation where in order to compete they must shrink capacity and reduce the number of theaters, Florin said".