{"id":91,"date":"2009-02-25T09:32:17","date_gmt":"2009-02-25T09:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinelog.org\/cinelog\/?p=91"},"modified":"2009-02-25T09:43:35","modified_gmt":"2009-02-25T09:43:35","slug":"a-quarter-century-of-krikorian-theatres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinelog.org\/cinelog\/2009\/02\/25\/a-quarter-century-of-krikorian-theatres\/","title":{"rendered":"A Quarter Century of Krikorian Theatres"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Amid the\u00a0decades old family legacies\u00a0and corporate conglomerates, that dominate the Southern California cinema landscape, there exists a somewhat quirky\u00a0chain that has managed to operate\u00a0outside theatre industry\u00a0norms for\u00a0twenty five years.<\/div>\n
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Founded\u00a0in 1984, Krikorian Theatres\u00a0were inspired in to existence via a father’s movie going frustrations. George Krikorian,\u00a0a successful real estate developer and thoroughbred racehorse owner, had noted a lack of local cinema\u00a0options, while attempting to take his children to the movies in the Palos Verdes\u00a0Peninsula area. Recognizing a potential business opportunity, Krikorian set about launching his own theatre, in what is now known as the “Avenue of the Peninsula” shopping center.<\/div>\n
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The Peninsula 6 proved highly successful within a few years of opening, warranting a three screen\u00a0addition and sparking the idea of launching a full fledged chain. Sticking to his alternative market approach, Krikorian\u00a0focused on\u00a0areas that\u00a0had been ignored by traditional theatre operators, often targeting\u00a0struggling retail\u00a0properties that were looking to redevelop. By the early 90’s, the burgeoning chain had grown to seven theatres,\u00a0primarily located in secondary markets, such as Hemet, Lake Elsinore, and Diamond Bar.\u00a0While modeled within the\u00a0standard cinema design of the time, each of Krikorian’s theatres featured peculiar flourishes, such as unadvertised THX certification and under built box offices, partnered with over sized concession stands. Marketed as being luxurious wonders, that served under screened communities, most of Krikorian’s venues struggled with both inefficient designs and questionable locations.<\/div>\n
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Falling\u00a0well short of the success Krikorian experienced with his first site, the entire chain was sold to Regal Cinemas, in 1996, for $28 million and stock options. Accounts vary, as to why the chain was sold;\u00a0Krikorian citing the emergence of stadium seating and a desire to launch a more viable line of theatres; insiders noting Mr. Krikorian’s mid 90’s divorce settlement\u00a0as being the true cause. In any case, Krikorian’s sale proved to be an\u00a0acute business move, as the original theatres\u00a0didn’t survive much longer under\u00a0Regal; today, only the La Mirada location remains in operation as a cinema.<\/div>\n
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By the new millennium, Krikorian had re launched his chain, as\u00a0the more upscale and, potentially, commercially viable, Krikorian Premiere Theatres. While still retaining an attraction to redevelopment sites, the choices were a bit less adventurous, building in\u00a0San Clemente<\/a>,\u00a0Downey, Redlands, and Monrovia. Additionally, Krikorian initiated a much more ambitious advertising campaign for the new chain, utilizing large format newspaper block ads,\u00a0regular spots on FM talk radio (including a promo cut by Howard Stern), and even television commercials for new theatre openings; all relatively unprecedented, in the normally frugal world of cinema\u00a0marketing.\u00a0The retooled chain’s theatres also began to feature a flair for extravagance, culminating in the company’s “Metroplex” concept. The first “Metroplex”<\/a> being built as part of the Buena Park Mall remodel and continuing on in to\u00a0the company’s Vista, Corona,\u00a0and Pico Rivera locations.<\/div>\n
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The “Metroplex” concept involved\u00a0modern megaplexes that were designed with a classic\u00a0cinema style. Featuring ornate lobbies,\u00a0commissioned artwork, and\u00a0top of the line amenities, the “Metroplex” theatres were intended to provide all of the conveniences of modern cinemas, while adding the luxurious experience of golden era\u00a0movie palaces.\u00a0However, true to the company’s tradition of missteps, the “Metroplexes” also suffered from a host of logistical problems and over indulgence.\u00a0Aesthetically pleasing, but inefficient, the new theatres’ facilities\u00a0struggled to serve movie goers effectively. Special touches, like Buena Park’s rooftop spotlights, went to waste, as plans had failed to consider functional issues (Buena Park’s\u00a0alleged “7 mile” spotlight range was reduced to a barely visible glow against a\u00a0well lit urban landscape).\u00a0Luxury features, such as\u00a0heavily promoted martini lounges, failed to materialize at all. And, much like\u00a0Krikorian’s original chain, the choice of\u00a0alternative sites\u00a0resulted in uniformly disappointing attendance levels.\u00a0While more pompous and grandiose than it’s predecessor, Krikorian Premiere Theatres proved to be strangely similar to Krikorian Theatres.<\/div>\n
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Despite Krikorian’s twenty-five years of missteps and misconceived grandeur, the chain has managed to survive, within a market and time period that have seen few\u00a0other theatre operators\u00a0remain fully intact.\u00a0An eccentric little company, at odds with industry and business norms, that somehow continues on.\u00a0<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Amid the\u00a0decades old family legacies\u00a0and corporate conglomerates, that dominate the Southern California cinema landscape, there exists a somewhat quirky\u00a0chain that has managed to operate\u00a0outside theatre industry\u00a0norms for\u00a0twenty five years. \u00a0 Founded\u00a0in 1984, Krikorian Theatres\u00a0were inspired in to existence via a father’s movie going frustrations. George Krikorian,\u00a0a successful real estate developer and thoroughbred racehorse owner, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinelog.org\/cinelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinelog.org\/cinelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinelog.org\/cinelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinelog.org\/cinelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinelog.org\/cinelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cinelog.org\/cinelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95,"href":"https:\/\/cinelog.org\/cinelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions\/95"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinelog.org\/cinelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinelog.org\/cinelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinelog.org\/cinelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}