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HAs anyone heard of a company that sells theatre franchises for smaller theaters? Someone mentioned it to me, and says there are a few, but noone seems to know anyone that does this???

Thanks

Not anymore... Jerry Lewis Cinemas were the last attempt, and they went belly up several years ago... You either work for a chain, or you're an indie... It's tough enough having anything left for yourself, without paying a franchise fee to use someone's name which really doesn't do a thing for you... And if you are independent you can do whatever works in your situation, without having to conform to some set of rules and regulations by the franchise outfit... There's no safety net, but there wouldn't be even if you were part of a franchise, so it's really better this way...

AFAIK, "Jerry Lewis Mini Cinemas" went "belly up" in the early 1970's. The one in Rochester is now an auto parts store.

Here are some links:
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2003_06_12.html#000403
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2003_06_02.html#000339
http://www.bobeggleton.com/dip1.html (See Limelight Cinemas)
http://www.classiccinemas.com/reader.asp
http://www.originalkingofcomedy.com/article/article1of3.html

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Thanks for the replies. I had heard of the cinema grill chains recently, and they seem to advertise for franchises, but no one seemed to know how to get in touch with them, so I thought maybe there were others.

Thanks again.

Since we just finished our business plan for a four-plex cinema cafe, I've done a great deal of research in this area.

The Cinema Grill franchises are listed as headquartered in Atlanta under the name "Restaurant Entertainment Group". As we wish to run an independent theater, we did not pursue contacting the company, but did obtain extensive information on their franchise package, locations, etc.

Last info shows them at:

5920 Roswell Rd., #C103
Atlanta, GA 30328
404-250-9536
John J. Duffy, V.P.

Found them on the web at cinemagrill.com.

Hope this helps!

Restaurant Entertainment Group is one of the names of those Entertainment Film Works theaters. Do a search on that company or it's abbreviation of EFW over at the forums of film-tech.com and you'll see what a bad company they are. Those were the folks that promised nice things then screwed the public by running a cheap half-assed theater with bad presentations and then screwed the building owners by skipping town in the middle of the night owing THOUSANDS in back rent. As an example, they ran the the "Aurora Cinema Grill" theater in Seattle, Washington for a mere few months before closing the theater and skipping town. It seems that every theater they ran was a perfect example of "film done very wrong".

[This message has been edited by Ken Layton (edited July 18, 2003).]

Well, since we're dishing dirt, I also found them to be very questionable in terms of their actual venue rollouts and operations. They seem to be best at touting themselves in the media, not running a good theater.

Best advice is to find a mentor in this area that is running a successful operation. We have such a mentor in our area that runs two four-plex cinema cafes (in two different towns) and is quite successful at both.

Do your research and ask lots of questions, no matter how dumb you think they sound. Acurate info is the only way to put together a sound business plan.

Here in the northwest (Oregon and Washington state) the McMenamins chain operate excellent cinema grill theaters (good food AND a good presentation). Visit their website at www.mcmenamin.com and check it out.

I wondered about them. Everything I got on them was a disconnected something! Thank you for the insight. I thought maybe it was just me. I've been trying to find somewhere that can answer questions for me, and I think I found my answers right here! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will be bending more ears in the near future.

Lisa