‘So many memories’, cinema chain to shut high street site for final time in HOURS – leaving film buffs devastated
A POPULAR cinema chain with 100 branches announced that one of its locations will shut for good today, leaving film buffs devastated.
The owners of Picturehouse confirmed it would pull down the shutters for the last time on its branch in Stratford East today.
In a heartfelt Facebook post, Picturehouse wrote: “After years of truly brilliant cinema, we’re very sad to say that our doors are closing for the last time today, Sunday 28 July.
“We’d like to take this opportunity to give a huge thank you to all of our wonderful customers for all your support over the years, and for sharing your love of cinema with us.”
Several film lovers commented on the post, sharing their disappointment at the popular cinema’s closure.
“I have so many memories,” one user said.
Another cinemagoer wrote: “Sad to see you go. The staff were always friendly.”
A former Picturehouse employee said: “I worked here for around 7 years and met a lot of friends too.
“Shame to see it’s closing.”
“Many happy trips here with the kids,” another regular commented.
“Good luck to all the staff who have taken care of us over the years.”
It comes after Cineworld, which operates the chain of cinemas, said it would shut another Picturehouse location in Bromley.
The sites will be closed to members of the public on August 1.
A Picturehouse spokesperson said it had made the difficult decision to close all three cinemas due to “increasing operational costs and declining admissions”.
They commented: “Picturehouse Members will be contacted directly about the remaining time on their Memberships in the coming days.”
However, Picturehouse isn’t the only major cinema chain to be permanently closing branches for good.
Why are cinemas closing?
A lot of major cinema chains have struggled following the pandemic, as customers got used to streaming films from home.
Big blockbusters such as the Barbie Movie and Oppenheimer drove punters back to the movie theatre last year, but it has not been enough to keep some venues afloat.
Cineworld, the parent company of Picturehouse has also struggled over the past year.
Last week the firm was reported to be eyeing the closure of 25 UK sites as part of a new cost-saving plan.
The chain is also seeking to renegotiate rent agreements for around 50 of its locations.
Struggling businesses often do this to help lower their operating costs and help retain more of their brick-and-mortar estate.
The Sun understands that Cineworld’s creditors and landlords will formally receive the plans in the coming weeks.
At the time, a Cineworld spokesperson told The Sun: “We continue to review our options, but we don’t comment on rumours and speculation.”
It follows the brand’s emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US late last year.
Filing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy means a company intends to reorganise its debts and assets while remaining in business.
At the time, the future of the chain’s 129 UK and Irish cinemas looked to be at risk.
Elsewhere, Omniplex, Ireland’s largest cinema chain took over five Empire Cinema sites late last year.
It came after the British chain fell into administration, closing six sites with immediate effect.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.