|
|
|
April 6, 2001 That's what Derby's Silver Screen Cinema will be offering when it reopens in mid-May after remodeling to add a kitchen to prepare fresh pizza and some tables and chairs for moviegoers. "Basically, we'll be serving pizza and beer and showing movies," said Stan Cox, who has owned the vintage theater for 3 1/2 years. "It's a way to keep old theaters in business. It's a way for us to survive." Cox picked up the idea after visiting several so-called "movie grills" in Texas in the past year. It's time for "dinner movies" in what has become a highly competitive -- and overbuilt -- local movie market that has seen the closing of four theaters since last fall plus the filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy of two chains operating in Wichita. Gone are the Pawnee Plaza (four screens), Cinemas East (six), Towne West Cinemas (five) and Towne East Twin (two). In bankruptcy but still operating while reorganizing debt are Dickinson Theatres (Northrock 14 and Northrock 6) and Royale Theatres (Cinemas West, Towne East Buck House, Royale 8 in Newton and Crusader VI in Wellington). "We have been pretty fortunate," Cox said. "We have a loyal audience, so it hasn't been all that bad. We were breaking even so we weren't going to close." "I run it mainly as a hobby or sideline business," said Cox, who also owns Machine Specialists in Wichita, which fabricates airplane parts. But the change from a straight movie house to a niche business that combines food with entertainment will allow the business to grow. The menu will be more than snacks but less than full restaurant meals, said Cox. "We'll offer probably four kinds of pizza by the slice and 15 kinds of bottled beer. We'll also have buffalo wings and wine coolers." Movies at 5 and 7:30 p.m. nightly will continue to be older first- and second-run features to maintain the $3 bargain prices. "We do best as second-run. Now with something more than popcorn, we think we have found our niche." Cox's son, Chad, will run the new operation when he graduates from Wichita State University in business this spring. The single-screen theater, built in the early 1970s in the El Paso shopping center in Derby, will actually provide two niche offerings. Besides the food-drink-and-movie offering at night, there will also be children's matinees in the mornings. "We found there was a demand for children's films year-round rather than just during the summer," Cox said. He plans to offer them at 10 a.m. and noon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays for a ticket price between $1.50 and $2. "We won't be serving alcohol then, obviously. We'll cover up all references to it while the kids are here." Cox repainted and freshened the theater in 1998 when he purchased it. The current remodeling involves installing a kitchen and pizza oven and replacing some of the theater seating with tables and chairs. "We are actually decreasing our capacity from about 200 to about 150. We'll still have about 100 theater seats in the center with tables and chairs on both sides for another 50," he described. "We've had the liquor license for three months, but we're a little slow to get going." The grand reopening will be mid-May, but the actual date has not been set. |
|
Movie House History - Classic
Theaters Of Kansas © 2007
|
