Alamo Drafthouse files for bankruptcy and will close some theaters. Is Raleigh on the list?
Three of Alamo Drafthouse’s dine-in movie theaters across the country will close permanently, succumbing to the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic.
With theaters closed during the pandemic or open with limited capacity, the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday and said it would close under-performing theaters.
But the retro-style theater in Raleigh on New Bern Avenue will continue to keep its doors open to moviegoers and VHS lovers.
The bankruptcy filing is part of an asset purchase agreement with previous investor Altamont Capital Partners as well as affiliates of Fortress Investment Group and other investors, according to The Associated Press and other news outlets.
“The transaction will provide the company with much-needed incremental financing to stabilize the business during the pandemic, which has had an unprecedented and outsized impact upon the movie theater and dining industries,” the company said in a statement. “More importantly, it will position Alamo Drafthouse to return to growth and continue executing on its long-term strategic vision.”
Three company-owned theaters will close permanently in Austin and New Braunfels in Texas, as well as in Kansas City, Missouri. But the company still plans to open three new franchise theaters this year, according to a news release.
The company will “evaluate the health” of all their leased locations during the chapter 11 process and possibly end leases at additional locations in the future.
“Because of the increase in vaccination availability, a very exciting slate of new releases, and pent-up audience demand, we’re extremely confident that by the end of 2021, the cinema industry – and our theaters specifically – will be thriving,” said Tim League, Alamo Drafthouse founder and executive chairman, in a news release.
Of the over 30 Alamo Drafthouses across the country, Raleigh is one of only four to have a video-rental component, with the others in Brooklyn, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Raleigh’s collection consists of over 70,000 video titles.
The theater is known for its “no talking” policy, limited seats and dine-in service that allows moviegoers to order food and drinks while watching movies. It has also allowed for its theaters to be rented privately by groups seeking to watch first-run films among smaller groups of people.
After over six months of being closed, Alamo Drafthouse was one of the Triangle theaters to reopen in October after Gov. Roy Cooper allowed for movie theaters to open at 30% capacity with a cap of 100 people.
Last week, Cooper issued a new executive order to ease some restrictions. That included keeping the 30% capacity on movie theaters but increasing the cap to 250 people per screen. People still need to be socially distanced and wear masks.
The Raleigh theater opened in 2018.
