The new CineBistro is only the first for metro Atlanta. Cobb Theaters COO Jeremy Welman (this isn't him; it's a theater chef preparing meatloaf sliders) tells us Alabama-based Cobb just opened itsseven-screen movie house at Sembler's new TOWN Brookhaven development near Oglethorpe U (brokered in 2008 by Retail Insight'sJulie Solomon). It's a dinner and a movie concept: full-plated chef-driven dinners (including a full bar) prior to a movie for the 21-year-old crowd. Jeremy says the decision to create this type of movie-going environment was partly in response to the continuedtoughening competition from mainline movie theaters. He says CineBistro's menu is ?more in line with a Houston restaurant thanpopcorn candy and squeeze-cheese nachos.? | |
| We also got a personalized tour from Cobb's Fred Meyers (a former Houston's exec). The three-year-old concept began in Miami. Fred says CineBistro attracts a movie-going niche that ?has given up? on traditional theaters, many dominated by younger crowds. Movie goers actually eat at personal tables in the theater (did we mention the full bar?). Jeremy tells us there's room for one more CineBistro in metro Atlanta, and the company is scouting sites, preferably in destination, mixed-use environs. He also says the company is looking to open one or two a year in a territory from Alabama to DC. ?We can't open a theater on every corner, it just doesn't make sense.? (Only so many people enjoy fine wine and The Smurfs.) |
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