Comments from Danscr

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Danscr
Danscr commented about Viewmont Mall Cinema on Feb 9, 2007 at 2:23 pm

I apologize, Joe. I also forgot that Dan (last name I have forgotten) replaced Frank Emmett when he went to manage the Summit Park Twin at Niagra Falls in the fall of 1982.

As you may have figured out, this is Dan Doherty, and I have thought of you often and fondly over the years. I still occasionally see Mr. Bill, Steve, Rob (who is now married to the former Theresa Kiwior), Randy, Frank Leggat occasionally, even though I now live in Washington, DC, but still keep my property in Blakely, PA.

My contact info: 202-756-4915/

Danscr
Danscr commented about "General Cinema Corporation" - 1994 book written about it's history on Feb 5, 2007 at 11:11 am

Hello All:

I’m not sure of the number, but Paul R. Del Rossi, who became the President in the 80’s, did pare down the Home Office Staff. As I recall, all of the Regional Vice-presidents for operations, had their offices within the territories that they supervised. That may have been true of the Film Buyers as well.

Even though General Cinema had a presence in New England, the Redstone and Sack circuits seemed to dominate the area.

I found Pruitt’s book disappointing. The point of the book seemed to be that the success of General Cinema over the years, was Richard Smith’s focus on diversification and acquisition. I was suprised to learn that only 12 % of General Cinemas business was in the theatre division. The Beverage Division and those of Neiman Marcus and Harcourt publishing each had much higher percentages. I had wished the book focused more on the theatre operations, as there is no other book that has done this (and is that kind of research possible today with the bankrupcy?) since the backbone of the company was due to the effectiveness of individual Managing Directors, House Managers and Division Managers. Can you tell that I’m a former Manager?! It was surprising too, that Richard Smith and his inner circle seemed exclusively concerned with acquisitions, according to Pruitt

Danscr
Danscr commented about Viewmont Mall Cinema on Jan 29, 2007 at 4:13 pm

The General Cinema Corporation Viewmont Mall Cinemas was built as a tri-plex in 1973. It largely had very little competition, and did a high volume business. In these early years it was managed by Cliff Wolf. In 1978, General Cinema planned to expand the theatre into a five-plex, and brought in Fred Jensen, a former Division Manager for Sterling Theatres, who had recently joined General Cinema, to supervise the expansion. It was completed in 1979, and at the time, was one of only 13 five-plexes that General Cinema had. It was an extremely high volume unit, that typically grossed more than 2 Million Dollars a year. However, that changed in 1985 with an UA 8-plex that opened up a mile a way on Route 6. Business went down somewhat and GCC had discussed expanding it to 8 screens but that never materialized. Jensen left GCC in 1990 to accept an Administrative position with a hotel chain on the West Coast. Drew Taylor, a seasoned GCC Manager took the reins at this time, eventually becoming an Area Manager when GCC eliminated the Division Manager system. GCC had decided to move out of the Wilkes-Barre Scranton market around 2000, and Drew supervised the closing of Viewmont, as well as the Wyoming Valley 7-plex in nearby Wilkes-Barre, PA. It was demolished around the year 2000 and a Borders Book Store now stands on the spot. There were several Assistant Managers over the years, including, Frank Emmett, Bob Wheatley, Steve Grushinski, Dan Doherty, Rob Wnuk and Kathleen Rogers. None of them currently work for a theatre circuit, even though Emmett, Wheatley, Doherty and Rogers went on to manage GCC theatres in other locations.

Danscr
Danscr commented about Strand Theatre on Jan 29, 2007 at 1:58 pm

Dear John:

I’m not responding to your previous post.

I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your posts throughout CT.
I appreciate your comments about Lehigh Valley. I can’t imagine it closed either. I was an Assistant Manager there in the mid-80’s. Bob Klaas was the Manager, until he moved to Cleveland as the DM. I later heard that when GCC eliminated the Division system, he became an Area Manager, with offices at Bidgewater Commons 7. When Bob left, Glenn D. Schattan became the Manager. I later moved to the Viewmont Mall 5 managed by Fred Jensen.

In many ways, I guess most of us are flabbergasted by the demise of GCC. It’s hard to believe that they went bankrupt 4 months after opening Fenway.

Do you know if many GCC Managers now work at AMC? I wonder because that GCC’s Managers used to earn much more than those at other circuits. There was also a number of GCC Managers who earned more than Division Managers. You probably remember all that.

Thank you.

Dan Doherty

Danscr
Danscr commented about AMC Christiana Mall Cinemas 5 on Jan 24, 2007 at 1:54 pm

It was in the Christiana Mall, in Delaware.

I remember it being a very profitable house. Perhaps it was one of the many five-plexes that GCC chose not to expand, and then when these 14+ theatres were built, it couldn’t compete.

Danscr
Danscr commented about Central Plaza Cinema on Jan 24, 2007 at 1:50 pm

Dear bigred and dave-bronx:

I appreciate all your comments on the former GCC sites.

Thankyou.

Danscr
Danscr commented about AMC Chestnut Hill 5 on Jan 24, 2007 at 1:28 pm

I would like to point out what has not yet been mentioned. The long-time Manager, who I have never met, was one of the most effective Managers in the company. The plush nature of Chestnut Hill was not simply rooted in its location, or the presence of the Home Office. Much of it had to do with this Manager’s various creative and effective ways of generating increasing income. One of the most famous of these was that he held numerous national VIP accounts. For those who might not remember, these were the discounted tickets sold in bulk as a benefit to employees of various corporations and universities. It was the Managers themselves that would convince Personnel Directors to buy them.