UA Grant Plaza

It is located in a strip shopping center called the Grant Plaza.

Yea the candy at movie theaters are usually crap $4 for a box with the candy in a small bag, well thats why you sneak candy in! lol. I was at this theater yesterday, I like it, not bad for a non-stadium seating theater, plus since most people are goin to mills or neshaminy its never too crowded usually.

Regal website for the Grant Plaza 9. Phone number: 215.677.8019

Of all movie theaters up in Northeast Philadelphia, this theater by far is the most mysterious I’ve ever come across. For example, how come no marquee? How are people supposed to know what’s playing there (other than from the newspaper listings, of course)? But to give credit where it’s due, I am very impressed by the meticulous way it’s maintained. But to help keep it that way I get the sense they prefer nobody comes there, hence the lacking of a marquee. But how does it manage to stay afloat when operating like that? One theory I have — and please correct me anybody if I’m wrong — is that because it’s part of a publicly traded corporation it’s able to make money via shareholder investments rather than via customers. In other words, some investor out in Santa Barbara, California or wherever considers investing in REG, but to do so they want to see growth, or broad market exposure at the very least. So they say, “Oh look! This chain has theaters all over! (the UA Grant Plaza 9 being listed as one of many.) So given that, it’s in an excellent position to absorb the lion’s share of the movie-going market and turn an excellent profit therefore!” So they invest on the basis of that perception, and countless other investors do likewise. Yet while it is true REG has these theaters all over the place like this, it’s not to say that any effort is being made to run them profitably. Rather, the way the corporation is making all its money is through these investors pouring their dollars into the company, while photos of the meticulously maintained UA Grant Plaza 9 and countless other well maintained theaters it has like that look mighty nice in the annual reports.

And as a disclaimer I’m not saying that is the case, of course. It’s just my theory. For I see no indicators of any strong efforts on the part of that theater’s management to build a strong customer base, the biggest giveaway in this regard being the lack of a marquee. Contrast that to Northeast Philadelphia’s AMC Orleans 8, which could not possibly look more desparate in its trying to lure more customers to it, in its case not only having marquees on the theaters themselves but another big stand-alone one out at curbside.