In an effort to enhance the safety and security of our guests and curb the growing problem of outside food & drinks: Any backpacks, bags or packages measuring larger than 12" x 12" x 6" will not be permitted into the theater. * Exception: Medical equipment bags and diaper bags.
* If you are bringing a bag into the theater for these purposes we ask that you come to the concessions area so we can check the bag before entering the theater. We reserve the right to check any bag regardless of size.
We accept most forms of payment including cash, credit or debit and tap to pay.
This is an incredibly complicated question with a lot of studio rules and more complications than I can really explain in one paragraph, but I will give it a try. For us to show a brand new movie, as a single screen cinema, we have to play it for at least 2 weeks and sometimes 3 weeks. We cannot play anything else for those weeks. ONLY that one movie. This makes scheduling incredibly hard sometimes and we will miss big movies every now and then. It also means we can't spontaneously show an older movie, even though we all love it, whenever we want. The terms of our contracts with the studios are much more strict than we would like, but this is the way it is.
Our ticket prices are incredibly low. The studio on average takes a cut of each brand new movie that leaves us with about $1 profit on each ticket. Thus, it is easy to see, if people do not buy concessions we can not afford to keep the theater open. We sell water and literally every dollar matters when concessions are the only way we stay in business. To ensure we have a movie theater in Englewood for you to enjoy, we need people to purchase concessions from us. We also want to ensure the safety of everyone and bag checking helps with this as well.
Yes. We have looked into the cost of many upgrades and repairs for the theater. Many of these updates are much higher than you would imagine. At the end of every month we first pay the debts of the theater, then we (the owners) pay our personal bills, and, finally, if there is anything left, we set it aside for repairs and upgrades. We have spent roughly $20,000 in the last two years on updates around the cinema. With our small profit margins, as discussed in the previous paragraph, it takes a lot of time and a lot of popcorn sold to save the money necessary for these things.
To highlight a few things we have already upgraded:
- New surround sound 5.1 speakers - $6,000
- New popcorn popper with new wiring - $5,500
- New electrical sub panel to replace the hazardous 1970s breakers - $4,000
- New sign by the road - $1,200
- Removal of old unusable concession equipment - $900
- Updated fire safety features - $1,300
* This does not include thousands in projector maintenance and bathroom repairs.
Recliner chairs are asked about a lot. A cheap recliner chair in general is $600 per chair without cost of installation. Another issue with reclining chairs is we would loose 3-5 seats for each recliner chair installed. We only get first run movies because we can potentially sell 250 seats (the studios like this). For many reasons recliner chairs are not feasible for this cinema.
We are one of only two for-profit small theaters in the area. All of the other small theaters operate as non-profit organizations. We have decided to be a for-profit theater for multiple reasons. This decision excludes us from accepting donations and qualifying for grants like the non-profit theaters.