TWO movie theater chains have announced that six locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area will soon close.
Disheartened moviegoers said they would switch to streaming movies after the closures.
1
Angelika Theaters and Alamo Drafthouse announced back-to-back closures of six theaters in North Texas.
Two is One, One is None LLC, the company that operates all five Alamo theaters in DFW, announced it is filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and has immediately closed the locations.
“It is heartbreaking that after ten years, this is where we remain, but the enormous number of losses incurred to the business were simply too great for us to continue operations,” wrote Bill C. DiGaetano, owner of six locations, in a company memo.
“Thank you for everything you have done for our company and thank you for the passionate way you came to work every day and served our guests.”
In a statement to Dallas Observer., a spokesperson for Alamo Drafthouse said the company is working “as quickly as possible” to get theaters back up and running.
A theater employee wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the company notified employees about the closures through the app where work schedules were posted.
“Honestly so cool, Alamo Drafthouse fired 5 theaters (including mine) via a message on HotSchedules that deletes itself after you read it,” they he wrote.
The message said the company lost more than $1 million in 2023, and since March 2020, the family that owns it has contributed $3.5 million in an attempt to keep it open.
FAN REACTION
Local residents said the news was heartbreaking but not surprising.
“It’s a shame to see all the classic fun stuff going away. I love a good movie in the theater, but movies are getting worse with one or two jokes or scary scenes with prices skyrocketing, so I can’t say no. I don’t see that coming,” he wrote a person in a Facebook post.
“It’s not a surprise. Movie theaters are very expensive and it’s not worth paying for many new movies. So most of us wait until they are broadcast,” added another.
One viewer said times are changing and many companies are not adjusting accordingly.
“What the pandemic has done is offer businesses an opportunity to start over,” they wrote.
“Unfortunately, many businesses continued as normal.”
OFF THE MENU
Businesses of all types have faced closures recently.
Genghis Grill, a Mongolian-style stir-fry restaurant, recently closed two locations in the same city.
Diners were shocked to see restaurants in Charlotte, North Carolina closed.
Movie night
The Alamo Drafthouse Theater was founded in Austin, Texas in 1997.
The unique theater specializes in pairing food and beer with movies. Spectators can enjoy local beers and signature cocktails served to their seats by a server.
Whenever you need more soda or popcorn, just lift your order card and an employee will take care of it.
The menu offers burgers, pizzas, salads, snacks and desserts made fresh with locally sourced ingredients.
There are locations at:
- Austin
- Boston
- Charlottesville
- Chicago
- Corpus Christi
- DC metropolitan area
- Dallas/Fort Worth area
- Denver
- El Paso
- Houston
- Indianapolis (coming soon)
- Laredo
- Los Angeles
- Lubbock
- New York City
- Northern Virginia
- Northwest Arkansas (coming soon)
- Omaha
- Raleigh
- Saint Anthony
- San Francisco
- Southwest Florida
- Springfield, Missouri
- Saint Louis
- Twin Cities
- Winchester
- Yonkers
Dasia Williams, reporter for Charlotte Observantwent to the location on Community House Road on Friday after his brother-in-law said it was one of his favorite places.
But when she got there, the restaurant was closed and the signs had already been taken down.
Customers said the locations “always seemed busy” but were aware of some issues.
“We love going to the one here in Ballantyne, and the last time we were there, the young lady said she was having a hard time getting staff to keep it open,” he said. he wrote a person in a Reddit thread.
“Yes, the last time we went there, about a year ago, there was only one server hosting and serving all the tables on Saturday lunch time, wild,” responded another customer.
The other closed location was inside the Charlotte airport.
The only restaurant left in the state is in the Winston-Salem area.
Bankrupt Red Lobster also announced a series of closures after nearly 100 restaurants were already closed.
IHOP is also facing closures as customers wait for a location to reopen.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
