The cinema sector is undergoing massive reinvention as conventional chains downsize while upstarts offer sophisticated food-and-beverage components. AMC, for one, is reducing the size of its movie theaters to about a third of the current 300 seats. This is an industrywide trend with huge implications for landlords as they work to reconfigure that space, said Chuck Stilley, president and CEO of Leawood, Kan.–based Stilley Partners, which helps match up developers and cinema operators worldwide.
Boca Raton, Fla.–based iPic is one of the new chains offering a high-end mix of food and drink, along with reclining leather seats and a cosmopolitan vibe. Food-and-beverage accounts for 50 percent of the revenue at these theaters. The entertaining experience is helping draw consumers away from Netflix and smartphone screens. “Box office is declining consistently,” said Patrick Quinn, vice president of real estate at iPic, at one of whose cinemas this SCTLive event was held. “But we help grow the box office because most people don’t want to go to theaters.” Quinn said iPic has a database of some 1.6 million members. “They are extremely loyal. We can watch them drive past plenty of other theaters to get to ours because it is unique.”
Key issues facing cinema operators, Quinn said, include a dearth of blockbusters from Hollywood and a lack of business between Monday and Thursday. IPic boosts weekday traffic with rock documentaries, remastered concerts and the streaming of events at which audiences seated in different theaters can interact remotely, Quinn said. Live performances and sports events are options too.
