'Times are changing,' cry fans as two movie theater chains close six locations (2024)

TWO movie theater chains announced six locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area will soon close.

Disheartened moviegoers said they would switch to streaming movies after the closures.

The Angelika and Alamo Drafthouse theaters announced back-to-back closures of six North Texas theaters.

Two is One, One is None LLC, the company that operates all five Alamo theaters in DFW, announced it is filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and immediately shut down the locations.

"It breaks my heart that after ten years, this is where we are left, but the huge number of losses to the business sustained were simply too big for us to continue operations," wroteBill C. DiGaetano, the owner of six locations, in a company memo.

"Thank you for everything you have done for our company and thank you for the passionate way you came to work every day and served our guests.”

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In a statement to the Dallas Observer., a spokesperson for Alamo Drafthouse said the company is working "as quickly as possible" to get the theaters back up and running.

An employee at one theater wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the company notified staff about the closures over the app where work schedules were posted.

"Honestly so cool Alamo Drafthouse laid off 5 theaters (mine included) through a message on HotSchedules that deletes itself after you read it," they wrote.

The message said the company lost over $1 million in 2023, and since March 2020, the family who owned it contributed $3.5 million in an attempt to keep it open.

FAN REACTION

Locals said the news was heartbreaking but not surprising.

"It stinks to see all the classic good time things going away. I love a good movie in the theater, but the movies are going downhill with one or two punch lines or scary scenes with prices skyrocketing, so I can’t say I didn’t see it, coming," wrote one person in a Facebook post.

"Not a surprise. Movie theaters are overpriced, and many new movies are not worth paying for. So, the majority of us wait until they are streaming," added another.

One moviegoer said times are changing and many businesses aren't adjusting properly.

"What the pandemic did was offer businesses a do-over," they wrote.

"Sadly a lot of businesses wentabout business as usual."

OFF THE MENU

Businesses of all types have been facing closures recently.

Genghis Grill, a Mongolian-style stir fryrestaurant,recently closed two locations in the same city.

Regulars were shocked to see the restaurants in Charlotte, North Carolina, shut down.

Dasia Williams, a reporter for theCharlotte Observer, went to the location on Community House Road on Friday after their brother-in-law said it was one of his favorite places.

But when she got there, the restaurant was closed and the signs had already been taken down.

Diners said the locations "always seemed to be busy" but they were aware of some issues.

"We Loved going to the one here in Ballantyne, and the last time we were there, the young lady said they were having a hard time keeping employees to keep it open,"wroteone person in a Reddit thread.

"Yeah, last time we went there about a year ago there was only a server hosting and serving all tables on a Saturday lunch rush, wild," replied another diner.

The other location that closed was inside the Charlotte airport.

The only restaurant left in the state is in the Winston-Salem area.

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Bankrupt Red Lobster also announced a slew of closures after nearly 100 restaurants were shut already.

IHOP is also facing closures as customers hope for one spot to reopen.