In what represents a major shift from the dormancy that has plagued movie theaters since the onset of the coronavirus, franchise owners of the six Alamo Drafthouse Cinema locations in North Texas said Friday that three of them will reopen in June and three more in July.
The owners plan to reopen the Richardson, Lake Highlands and Cedars location near downtown Dallas in June, according to franchise CEO Bill C. DiGaetano. Three more — in Denton, North Richland Hills and The Music Factory development at Las Colinas in Irving — will reopen in July.
The D-FW announcement came after executives for the Austin-based chain revealed plans for a May reopening of Alamo theaters in Brooklyn, N.Y., Los Angeles and Austin (its Mueller location). However, the D-FW Alamo operation is owned separately by franchisees and is not part of the Austin-based group.
In March, the Austin group — Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas Holdings LLC, which bills itself as a dine-in theater chain offering food and beer and a policy of strict movie-watching etiquette — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In doing so, it followed the lead of Dallas-based Studio Movie Grill, which filed for bankruptcy last fall because of the economic upheaval triggered by the pandemic.
The six franchise Alamo locations in the D-FW area are, however, not a party to the Austin group’s bankruptcy. The D-FW Alamos are owned by Bill D. DiGaetano and his son, Bill C. DiGaetano.
Tobin Toler, a Dallas-based tax consultant to the movie-theater industry, who represents multiple theater chains, said Alamo has for years prized an advantage over its competitors, because moviegoers who love Alamo really love Alamo. “They just do better, even when they compete in the same marketplace.”
Still, Toler reacted with surprise over Alamo’s ambitious plans for reopening, noting that nationally Alamo “is not closing very many at all. Studio [Movie Grill] cut 40%. Alamo is reopening all but about 10 [nationwide]” and plans to do so by July.
The pandemic, Toler said, has hurt movie theaters in two main ways: Most don’t own the buildings they occupy, and with little to no earned income since the national emergency over COVID-19 took effect in March 2020, many have not been able to pay rent. In addition, movie companies are no longer providing product — new films — at the frenzied pace they once did.
Alamo’s brand and reputation, plus its draw among foodies and cinephiles, make it a company, Toler contends, that landlords don’t want to lose. As a result, they’re willing to grant Alamo a longer leash.
“I’m willing to bet that Alamo’s landlords got really righteous really quick,” Toler said. “They realized that they were looking at something they couldn’t lease to anybody else. In other words, if they were to lose the Alamo brand, they would lose the panache that Alamo brings to a deal.”
Alamo typically selects locations, he said, that bigger chains simply ignore. “And they get away with it because they have a unique presentation and environment compared to other operators.”
