THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 9, 1996 TAG: 9606070213
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 36 lines
The city's third Movie Time is open.
Indeed, it opened a week ahead of schedule - in time for a chilly Memorial Day weekend just right for movie-watching.
Less than an hour after the last of 5,800 titles was shelved, the store at 2815 Godwin Blvd. opened at 5:30 p.m. May 23.
``Lots of people had been sticking their heads in the door to see when we would be opening,'' said Anna Moore, district manager of Movie Time. ``We were ready earlier than we planned, so we flipped on the lights and opened the doors.''
The first weekend was ``terrific,'' Moore said. ``I really think the rain helped us get off to such a good start.''
Suffolk's growth in recent years and the high traffic flow through his other two Suffolk locations convinced owner Robert Groves that a third Movie Time would succeed, Moore said. The others are on Holland Road and Main Street.
Groves, who lives in Prince George County, also owns Movie Time stores in Smithfield and Ahoskie and Murfreesboro, N.C. Movie Time, a Richmond-based company, has 71 stores in Virginia and North Carolina.
``We came here because there is so much growth right here along Godwin Boulevard,'' Moore said. ``So many new homes have been built recently. Having a third store will bring the lines down a little in all the stores and enable us to better serve that market who used to drive to Suffolk to rent movies.''
Membership is free at Movie Time. Customers may keep the movies for three nights. The stores also has this policy: rent two movies, get a free children's flick; or rent nine movies, the 10th is free.
These changes are the result of customer surveys taken in Grove's other Movie Time stores, Moore said. by CNB