Jerry Lewis Cinema
1401 S. 12th Avenue W,
Virginia,
MN
55792
1401 S. 12th Avenue W,
Virginia,
MN
55792
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Two malls developed by Gamble Development had common opening dates of August 19, 1971: the Mesabi Mall in Hibbing and the Thunderbird Mall in Virginia. It was a way for the development company to carve out locations for its chain of Gamble’s Discount Department Stores and Red Owl Family stores - both of which were being destroyed by competitors. The two malls would also have single-screen theaters.
Franchisee Movie World Inc. secured locations in both malls to launch 350-seat single-screen Jerry Lewis Cinema’s in each. The theatres promised family-friendly fare in their mall settings. They also had the one-button automation which was supposed to make theatre operation a snap for those without theatrical experience.
The two Jerry Lewis Cinemas opened within a day of each other. The Thunderbird Mall of Virginia was first opening on October 6, 1971 with Tom Chapin in “Blue Water, White Death” and the Mesabi Mall in Hibbing was second on October 7, 1971 with the same movie.
Contributed by
dallasmovietheaters
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
The two malls opened on the same day, Aug. 11, 1971. A press release from Gamble’s was in the Duluth News-Tribune of Aug. 10.
Several articles in 2016 about how the Thunderbird Mall would be “de-malled”, including the demolition of K-Mart, where they would follow the new fad of flip-flopping the retail spaces to strip-mall style and the retail would face outside, to the parking lot.