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Author Topic: Regal acquired by Europe's Cineworld Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 12-11-2017 06:28 PM                     Those shareholders obviously want a return on their investment, so some kind of cutbacks can most likely be expected. But, I don't see a whole lot of possibilities to consolidate ther U.S. operations with their operations in Europe and the Middle East. Unless they'll aggressively focus on one global brand and are willing to shell out the funds to "homogenize" both their brand and operations, there doesn't seem to be a reason to close the U.S. head office.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 12-13-2017 01:52 PM                     I think it would be stupid for Cineworld to get rid of the Regal brand. "Cineworld" does sound a little more cool than "Regal," but brand equity is valuable. Few Americans are familiar with the Cineworld brand. Then there's the issue of cost. It's pretty expensive to change all forms of marketing materials and store front signage from one brand to another. Plus the process is complicated and time consuming. AMC took Carmike Cinemas months ago, but our two former Carmike locations in Lawton still have Carmike signage on the building exteriors and even still in some places inside the buildings. It's clear a decent number of movie theater fans don't like Regal, but I don't think the brand is universally despised by casual movie-goers.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 12-13-2017 06:17 PM                        Rebranding would be insanely expensive. There’s no reason to rebrand Regal (or Edwards etc) except to stroke the egos of Cineworld executives. It’s not like Regal is tainted or something. Oh wait, they have those Sony projectors and Klipsch speakers. Never mind. REBRAND!  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-13-2017 07:12 PM                        The Carmike Wynnsong 10 in Billings MT recently became known as the AMC Classic 10. I guess that's code for "old worn out 10." It still has the Wynnsong signs, or it did about a month ago when I drove by there. I'm glad for the name change though because I thought "Wynnsong" was a horrible name.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 12-13-2017 09:06 PM                     Our old Carmike 8 theater became the "AMC Classic Lawton 8." Our newer 13-plex thankfully wasn't called "Wynnsong" like so many other large Carmike locations. That "Wynnsong" term sounds like something more at home in a country music band rather than a movie theater. They used the "Patriot" term instead since the theater is literally across the highway from Fort Sill. So now it's the "AMC Patriot 13."  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-13-2017 09:47 PM                        I think "Wynn" is the son of one of the original Carmike people. No idea where the "song" part came from. (The country-band thing seems off base...I know a few guys in bands and I think that name would get you laughed out of any respectable honky tonk.)  |  IP: Logged Terry Monohan Master Film Handler Posts: 379 From: San Francisco CA USA Registered: May 2014 posted 12-14-2017 10:07 AM                     Cineworld Europe may bring back some showmanship and quality long gone from the current management team at Regal. Time to clear out the old Regal guard and bring in some new movie theatre guys that will make the the Regal chain stand out. Will they keep the name Regal or change everything with the new Cineworld name? We are excited in San Francisco CA as we only have one Regal Cinema left (a bad twin job) called the UA Stonestown. Next door the old Macy's is going out and Regal now Cineworld may be building a nice new Theatre in it's place. We wish Cineworld all the luck when they take over this sad UA, Regal, Edwards, and all the other names they go under chain. Hope they can just go with Cineworld. Bring in some Europe type managers and cinema designers that know lighting, seating,sound, screen presentation and food. Let them see what Regal does not provide the movie going public in the USA now.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 12-14-2017 11:46 AM                        Is Cineworld well-known for running theaters to a higher standard of presentation etc. than Regal?  |  IP: Logged Buck Wilson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 894 From: St. Joseph MO, USA Registered: Sep 2010 posted 12-14-2017 03:01 PM                     It'd be difficult to be worse than the typical Regal, in my opinion.  |  IP: Logged Michael Riley Film Handler Posts: 52 From: New Jersey Registered: Apr 2010 posted 12-14-2017 08:08 PM                  Regal's presentation was great if you lived near one of their top performing locations, E-Walk, New Rochelle, Kaufman Astoria, Fenway, LA Live, Pinnacle, etc., the places where executives and important people would frequent. Outside of those however, the MO was always cut costs everywhere you possibly can short of creating a safety hazard. Maintenance would have to be scheduled out in advance, payroll would always be bare bones even at the peril of customer service, and you were encouraged to perform as much of the work yourself as you possible could. Managers for Regal weren't just managers, they were mechanics, plumbers, painters, handymen, electricians, janitors, and carpenters. Every single line item on your building P&L would be scrutinized every single month, and if you are a GM, your pay was largely dependent on making sure they weren't in the red. If you were in a profitable location, often times this happened automatically each month, with little effort needed. If you were in an unprofitable location, or heaven forbid a mall, things you'd have no control over like film rentals, CAM charges, monthly rent, and utilities, would make it practically impossible to win. I still scratch my head wondering why anyone would agree to be a GM for Regal, most work 50-60 hour weeks, while constantly getting browbeaten for not hardly enough pay. God bless anyone who wants to do that to themselves.  |  IP: Logged Sam Graham AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues. Posts: 1431 From: Waukee, IA Registered: Dec 2004 posted 12-15-2017 10:05 AM                        quote: Buck Wilson It'd be difficult to be worse than the typical Regal, in my opinion. I have to disagree with that. While Regal's own builds are pretty awful (this is a company who in the nineties bragged on their Investor Relations page that they spent less money per square foot than any major exhibitor), they've done a decent job of keeping up presentation quality at my favorite old Act III's. I would still see a show at the 20 year-old Village Square or 18 year-old Colonnade in the Las Vegas area before any other multiplex in town. And I don't expect anything to change technical-wise at the Warrens. Yes, if you're in an old Hollywood that was built as crap, it's still crap, but they don't tend to get crappier. Another thing about Regal that stands out...their employees. Shortly after Act III was folded into Regal, the staff got WAY nicer. I don't recall ever having a bad or rude experience with a Regal employee. I can't say that about any other exhibitor, Warren and Megaplex included.  |  IP: Logged

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