THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 11, 1994 TAG: 9408110494
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
A 10-acre movie and entertainment complex planned for Chesapeake is about to become a virtual reality.
Regal Cinemas Inc., based in Knoxville, Tenn., plans to begin construction within the next two months of a mega-cinema complex in the Crossways Center shopping center on Greenbrier Parkway across from Greenbrier Mall. The 80,000-square-foot entertainment complex will cost between $6.8 million and $7.2 million to develop, said Greg Dunn, vice president of marketing at Regal.
And if all goes as planned, it will open in the spring with the latest rage in kids' entertainment - virtual reality.
``We firmly believe that the inclusion of the family entertainment center will widen the market appeal and enhance the patron base for the cinema complex,'' said Michael L. Campbell, president and CEO of Regal Cinemas. It will also keep entertainment spending under one roof.
Regal owns 89 theaters with 665 screens in 15 states. The firm is building a movie theater in Newport News near Kiln Creek on Victory Boulevard, in addition to its South Hampton Roads operation.
Regal chose Chesapeake because it liked the demographics, the city's growth pattern and the fact that area was underserved by its existing movie theaters, Dunn said.
``They thought it was ideal,'' Dunn said of Regal's corporate development department.
The new theater will feature 13 screens showing first-run films. An auditorium will contain a motion simulator ride that seats 75 people. An oversize lobby will house a cafe and two large concession stands offering traditional fare like popcorn and hot dogs in addition to frozen yogurt and espresso.
An adjacent two-story family entertainment center called ``Funscapes'' will offer a 36-hole miniature golf course, a children's play area and virtual reality games on the lower level. The upper level of the 43,000-square-foot fun center will feature a video arcade and party rooms for family gatherings.
A food court will connect the movie theater and the family entertainment center.
``From our perspective, it's an interesting retail concept that hasn't been done,'' said Jennifer Spidle, an associate analyst at Wheat First Butcher Singer in Richmond. ``They're setting up a family center in a modular structure, so if one segment is not doing well, they can take it out.''
The trend toward one-stop entertainment centers has been catching on, she said.
``The whole market is shifting that way,'' she said. ``It's geared toward bring people in. They aren't going to come to see a movie and then leave.''
The complex is also unusual because the cinema will own and develop the property as opposed to being just another tenant, Spidle said.
Revenues for the fast-growing movie theater company increased to $29.4 million last quarter, up 36 percent from a year earlier. Its earnings per share increased to 26 cents per share last quarter from 20 cents a year ago.
Regal's Chesapeake entertainment complex is a prototype that the company will evaluate before launching more family entertainment centers, Campbell said.
``We think business will go through the roof,'' Dunn said. ``I don't think there's an entertainment center like this anywhere else in the country. No one's married together the entertainment center with the food concept and movie theater.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
Staff map
Area shown: Regal Cinema planned complex
by CNB