Just a few weeks after they reopened theaters, Regal Cinemas is pulling the plug again because of problems stemming from Covid-19.
The chain, which includes the Warren Theater in Broken Arrow, says it will be closing all of its 663 theaters in the U.S. and Britain on Thursday, affecting roughly 40,000 employees in the U.S.
Right now the theater industry is caught in a vicious cycle, where smaller audiences prompt studios to postpone major releases, which in turns leads to lower box office revenues.
We talked to Helen Staab who’s a manager at the Great Clips hair salon in the Shops at Aspen Creek, where the Warren Theater is the anchor tenant, about a possible ‘ripple effect’ on business.
She’s not too worried, but she admits there’s not a lot of other business activity in the area.
“There’s a New York style pizza place opening up down the road, so hopefully that’ll kind of help,” she said.
She says the Starbucks next door stays very busy and she says business at her salon has been good.
Besides the theater, there is a 240-unit upscale apartment complex in the 150 acre development, but large swaths of it remain empty fields.