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Matinee Ideal: Muvico puts nostalgic twist on the modern megaplex

By Dave Bodamer

While many established movie theater companies like Regal Cinemas, AMC and Loews are scrambling to sell or renovate their older theaters into stadium-style megaplexes, a smaller Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company, Muvico, is building its empire from the ground up.

Its approach — a mix of innovation and nostalgia — takes elements not typically seen in most theaters, such as full-service restaurants, valet parking and child care, and adds them to elaborately themed cinemas reminiscent of the grand movie palaces of the early 20th century. Each of Muvico’s theaters features a different theme, such as the Paris Opera House, an Egyptian temple or a 1950s-style drive-in. Moreover, Muvico is bringing an idea used by European theater exhibitors into its developments: Capture the customer for more than just the time it takes to watch a movie. Its newest theater in Boca Raton, Fla., features a full-service upscale restaurant and bar where “VIP” moviegoers can watch the film or mingle before or after the show. All Muvico theaters also feature a broader selection of light-fare food items such as pizza and chicken dishes.

The company’s beginnings, however, were modest. President Hamid Hashemi got into the exhibitor business when he bought a three-screen theater in Coral Springs, Fla., in 1984. At the time, he did not know the first thing about managing theaters.

“I bought it thinking it was a simple business,” Hashemi said. “I very quickly learned that it’s more complicated than you’d think.”

Hashemi began talking with other exhibitors to learn the ins and outs of the industry. Moreover, he had to compete with an eight-screen Regal theater just down the road, and he did not have the time to be a slow learner. But he kept that first theater profitable and soon accumulated a small collection of cinemas spread throughout Florida. But he was not satisfied.

In 1995, in the early stages of the megaplex craze that has gripped the exhibitor industry, Hashemi sold all his theaters to Regal and restarted his business, building only stadium-style-seating megaplexes. After its next round of openings, the chain will average 19 screens per location, well above the industry average of 12. Muvico intends to maintain that figure and will only build theaters with between 18 and 24 screens. The locations will have square footage ranging from 74,000 square feet to 102,000 square feet and have a seating capacity from 3,800 to 4,800.

Muvico operates seven locations with a total of 127 screens and one IMAX theater, all located in Florida. Plans call for 350 screens down the road, with movement into other states outside Florida. Within the next year Muvico will open in Maryland at The Mills Corp.’s Arundel Mills project and at three developments in Tennessee. The chain is growing at a pace of six to eight locations per year, a level Hashemi said he plans to maintain.

A private company, Muvico is internally funded. In some situations it owns the land and the building in which the theater is located, as opposed to leasing the space from a developer. Its projects are backed by a combination of venture capital, credit lines and institutional investors.

“We believe we can compete with everyone in the business in every market in terms of service and aesthetics,” Hashemi said.

Muvico constructs theaters both as freestanding units and as part of retail/entertainment projects. In the future, the company is leaning toward doing mostly freestanding boxes, but Hashemi said he likes to be involved in what he feels are innovative projects, such as Mills centers or Peabody Place, Memphis, Tenn.

Muvico is an attractive tenant because of its individuality, said Susan Godorov, spokeswoman for Pointe Orlando, which contains one of Muvico’s theaters.

Yaromir Steiner, developer of Centro Ybor, Fort Lauderdale, said he chose Muvico “because they are known as innovators in the industry. Muvico Centro Ybor Theater will be different from the run-of-the-mill suburban movie complex.”

What separates Muvico from its larger competitors is that instead of building a nationwide network of similar theaters, it develops each megaplex based on a different theme. The philosophy has been described by observers as innovative and as paying homage to the great movie palaces from the 1920s. Development Design Group, Baltimore, has designed most of Muvico’s theaters.

“We’re really trying to create a sense of place,” Hashemi said. “All exhibitors show the same pictures. What [moviegoers] get in addition to the movie is what separates us.”

Each of Muvico’s locations takes one theme and uses it to influence every detail. Its Egyptian-themed theater looks like a temple and includes massive columns throughout its structure with hieroglyphics lining its walls. Similarly, a 1950s-themed theater uses cars from that era as furniture in its lobby.

Another distinguishing trait is the company’s willingness to try unconventional concepts. Muvico is offering child-care facilities and more upscale services like valet parking, better food and a bar and restaurant. The concepts started about four years ago and stemmed from the observation that adults between the ages of 25 and 45 do not attend movies as frequently as younger and older adults.

“The reason for this is twofold,” Hashemi explained. “One is that they’ve just had children and the other is that they want to be in an atmosphere that is young and professional. Movies just are not as attractive to that age group.”

The child-care service at three of Muvico’s theaters enable parents to leave young children in the care of trained teachers. Parents are given beeper wrist bands so that they can be notified if anything goes wrong, although Hashemi said the company has never had to use them. The facilities can accommodate up to 50 children. At least two supervisors are on hand at all times, and there is never a ratio of more than 10 children to every professional. The service carries a three-hour charge of $7.

To entertain the 25- to 45-year-old segment, Muvico is experimenting with a new concept at its soon-to-be-open Boca Raton theater. It will include a 12,400-square-foot Italian restaurant and bar.

“We’re excited about working with them,” said Larry Reiser, senior vice president of the Patrick McBride Co., Miami, which is designing the restaurant at Boca Raton. “We’re trying to keep it fairly upscale. We’ve tried to keep in that type of styling. It will feature cornice work, wood moldings, trim and decorative columns. Even the chandeliers will be based on old movie house equipment. They really let us have fun with the design.”

No one under the age of 21 will be admitted to the facility, which will have a separate entry from the general ticketing area. The restaurant will connect with balconies in some of the theater’s screens where moviegoers can drink cocktails while viewing a film. Hashemi said he is not sure that the concept will be successful, but the point, he added, is that the company is willing to try new things.

“We don’t want to have prototypes and to get pigeonholed into one idea,” he said. “It may cost a little more money going in to build one of our theaters instead of someone else’s, but we always assume that it’s going to be better than the last one we did.”