I used to work for Boston Concessions Group. They now own Entertainment (Honk!) Cinemas. They bought the Tri-Boro from the old owners of Entertainment Cinemas in a package deal. I guess that they decided that it was drowning and decided to cut their losses. I almost got roped into running that place too. Whew!
Well, let me make a few comments about the Castle Cinema. The Castle was bought in 2000 by the Gemma family, owners of Gem Plumbing. The youngest brother was put through school and became a lawyer, specializing in real estate law. he and another graduate started Gemma and Levine. Recently, they realized that personal injury work makes A LOT of money. The plumbing side fronted the personal injury advertising. Seen any “Justice for All” ads? That’s them.
Anyway, back to the Castle. The plumbing company was making a BUNCH of money and basically needed a hole to hide it. They bought the Castle under the guise of revitalization. By the way, the town counselman for the area worked for the plumbing company at the time! Whee!!
These guys know plumbing. They know to chase an ambulance. Anthony Gemma’s (The owner) personal motto: “Mirror and Match” to be a success. Copy a successful business. He tried to copy other cinema pubs while knowing nothing about the industry.
Seeing this project fail feels soooooo good. The Castle was a beautiful theater and they bastardized it. They tried to make it too much too fast. Could it be a good cinema pub? Yes. But you need to put a heart and soul into it, not just money.
I used to work for Boston Concessions Group. They now own Entertainment (Honk!) Cinemas. They bought the Tri-Boro from the old owners of Entertainment Cinemas in a package deal. I guess that they decided that it was drowning and decided to cut their losses. I almost got roped into running that place too. Whew!
Whee!
Well, let me make a few comments about the Castle Cinema. The Castle was bought in 2000 by the Gemma family, owners of Gem Plumbing. The youngest brother was put through school and became a lawyer, specializing in real estate law. he and another graduate started Gemma and Levine. Recently, they realized that personal injury work makes A LOT of money. The plumbing side fronted the personal injury advertising. Seen any “Justice for All” ads? That’s them.
Anyway, back to the Castle. The plumbing company was making a BUNCH of money and basically needed a hole to hide it. They bought the Castle under the guise of revitalization. By the way, the town counselman for the area worked for the plumbing company at the time! Whee!!
These guys know plumbing. They know to chase an ambulance. Anthony Gemma’s (The owner) personal motto: “Mirror and Match” to be a success. Copy a successful business. He tried to copy other cinema pubs while knowing nothing about the industry.
Seeing this project fail feels soooooo good. The Castle was a beautiful theater and they bastardized it. They tried to make it too much too fast. Could it be a good cinema pub? Yes. But you need to put a heart and soul into it, not just money.