Empire Theatres

Empire Theatres Limited

Former type	Private (subsidiary of Empire Company Ltd.)
Industry	Movie theatres
Fate	24 sold to Cineplex in Atlantic Canada. 23 sold to Landmark Cinemas in Ontario and Western Canada. 3 others closed.
Founded	1978[1]
Defunct	2013
Headquarters	Stellarton, Nova Scotia[1]
Area served	Canada
Key people	Stuart G. Fraser, President and CEO Valerie J. Ryan, COO Paul Wigginton, Vice-President and CFO
Number of employees	approx. 3000[1]
Parent	Empire Company

Empire Theatres Limited was a movie theatre chain in Canada, a subsidiary of Empire Company Ltd., the holding company of the Sobey family conglomerate.

In June 2013, Empire announced it would exit the movie theatre business, selling the vast majority of locations to Cineplex (24 in Atlantic Canada) and Landmark Cinemas (23, in Ontario and western Canada, including two locations originally slated to be purchased by Cineplex and the Downtown Ottawa theatre). Three other locations in operation at the time of the announcement were not included in either deal which are now closed.

History

Formation

Empire Theatres was formed from the Sobey family's purchase of the Atlantic assets of Canadian Odeon Theatres, later Cineplex Odeon, in 1984. Later, it also acquired selected Famous Players theatres locations, including those in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Famous Players remained a major competitor in the Maritimes. Empire responded by opening several new or replacement locations along the lines of the multiplexes being opened by Cineplex and Famous Players in the rest of Canada.

Despite an aggressive expansion in the Maritimes in the mid-1990s, Famous Players had focused on improvements elsewhere and did not match Empire's moves, one of which included an 18-screen (including one IMAX screen) multiplex in the Bayers Lake Business Park in suburban Halifax. With comparably minor interests in the region, Famous Players cut back on marketing and then sold its remaining screens in Atlantic Canada to Empire Theatres in 2004.

Expansion to Western Canada

On August 22, 2005, Empire announced it would acquire 27 theatres, with a total of 202 screens, in locations from British Columbia to Ontario, from Cineplex Galaxy LP, as a result of the latter's acquisition of Famous Players Theatres, effectively doubling Empire's size. Most of the locations are smaller "traditional" venues, but some are larger theatres, such as Coliseum Calgary (now Empire Theatres Shawnessy), SilverCity theatres in Kitchener and St. Catharines, Ontario, one in Calgary, Alberta (now Empire Theatres Kitchener, Empire Theatres Pen Centre, and Empire Theatres Country Hills respectively), and Cineplex Odeon Square One in Mississauga (now Empire Theatres Square One). The deal closed September 30, 2005. ^[2]

In December 2009, the Empire Theatres chain had 48 screens equipped with digital projection and RealD 3D capabilities.^[3] In March 2012, Empire announced that it was the "first national exhibitor in Canada to complete circuit wide digital cinema conversion", with 359 screens converted, 40 percent of which have RealD 3D capability.^[4]

On June 21, 2012, Empire announced the acquisition of two Ontario-based theatres^[5] from AMC Theatres, located in Kanata, Ontario and Whitby, Ontario. Each theatre features 24 screens, including an IMAX experience auditorium. Empire had also announced plans to equip all screens in these locations with Barco digital technology, and some with RealD 3D technology, to "provide movie-goers with a state-of-the-art movie presentation experience".

Sale to Cineplex and Landmark

On June 27, 2013, Empire Company Ltd. announced that it would be focusing on its retail and real estate operations (including Sobeys, which earlier in the month had agreed to purchase Safeway's Canadian operations). To that end, Empire Theatres wound down its operations and sold or closed all of its theatres as follows:^[6]

• Cineplex Entertainment purchased 24 theatres for approximately C$194 million, including virtually all of the chain's locations in Atlantic Canada (13 in Nova Scotia, 2 in Prince Edward Island, 6 in New Brunswick and 3 in Newfoundland). All of these were renamed Cineplex Cinemas upon sale completion. Empire Extra at the theatres acquired by Cineplex in Dieppe, New Brunswick and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia will be replaced by UltraAVX with Dolby Atmos. UltraAVX or VIP Cinemas may also be added to other locations. Two IMAX theatres are also included in the sale located in Halifax, Nova Scotia and St. John's Newfoundland.^[7] The deal also included the two former AMC locations in Kanata and Whitby, which were later removed from this deal due to Competition Bureau concerns.

• Landmark Cinemas purchased 23 other theatres in Ontario and Western Canada (now including the Kanata and Whitby and Downtown Ottawa locations), the vast majority of which are locations which Cineplex had been required to divest when it merged with Famous Players in 2005. Landmark initially paid C$55 million for a minority equity share and management control of the theatres, and has the right to buy out Empire's remaining equity interest by the end of 2013; if this right is not exercised, Empire will then have the right to sell that interest to a third party (and require Landmark to do the same). Empire Extra at the acquired theatres by Landmark Cinemas in Waterloo, Calgary, and Orleans, will be replaced with Landmark Xtreme. The rebranded Empire Extra screens bought by Landmark Cinemas may get either Barco's Auro 11.1 or Dolby Atmos. 5 IMAX Theatres are also included in the sale located in Kitchener, Whitby, Kingston, Ottawa, and Calgary.^[8] According to Landmark Cinemas on October 25, 2013, it would take over the World Exchange Plaza theatre which would close on December 29, 2013 when its lease expired.^{[9] [10]}

• Three locations were not included in the sales and, following the announcements, were closed. Empire owns the property for two of them – a drive-in in Westville, Nova Scotia and Empire Theatres Victoria (the former Capitol 6) in Victoria, British Columbia – and will sell the real estate, though no timeline for these sales was provided.^[11] The leases for the two remaining locations (World Exchange Plaza in Ottawa, and the Elgin Mills 10 in Richmond Hill) will expire later in 2013, though the locations will be offered for sale to any purchasers seeking to maintain the leases. The Elgin Mills 10 closed on August 15, 2013, but was acquired by Rainbow Cinemas in October 2013 and reopened on November 20, 2013. ^[12] The Drive In closed permanently on September 2, 2013. The Victoria theatre closed on October 17, 2013.^[13][14] The Westmount Centre Empire closed in spring 2011, and is vacant from 2012-present.

In addition to existing locations, Empire had announced plans to construct four additional locations:

• Cineplex's deal includes the Empire Theatres location under construction on Torbay Road in St. John's.^[15] The theatre was supposed to have Empire Extra when built by Empire Theatres, this means after the sale, there will be UltraAVX with Dolby Atmos instead.
• Empire initially did not sell its rights to a planned 10-screen location at Ottawa's Lansdowne Park, but stated it remained committed to the project.^[14] On February 24, 2014, Cineplex announced that it has secured the rights to this theatre. It will feature three VIP screens, a first for any Cineplex theatre in Ottawa, and at least one UltraAVX screen.^[16]
• New locations were also announced in Markham, Ontario; and in Edmonton in the Manning district with IMAX. The future of both projects is unclear.

On October 10, 2013, Cineplex received Competition Bureau approval to buy 24 Empire Theatres in Atlantic Canada. In order to win approval, the Kanata and Whitby theatres were removed from the transaction and will now be transferred to Landmark Cinemas instead. On October 22, 2013, Empire Theatres closed its Atlantic Canada locations after the evening shows. ^[17][18] The Atlantic Canada theatres sale to Cineplex was completed on October 24, 2013. ^[19] On October 24 or 25, 2013, the theatres reopened as Cineplex Cinemas.

On October 29, 2013, Empire Theatres closed its Ontario and Western Canada locations after the evening shows and reopened on October 31, 2013, as Landmark Cinemas.^[20] Also on October 30, 2013, Empire Theatres closed permanently. The sale to Landmark Cinemas was closed on October 31, 2013. ^[21] The Ottawa 7 theatre was run on a management contract until December 29, 2013 when it closed. Also on November 1, 2013, Empire Company Ltd. announced the completion of the sale of Empire Theatres. ^[22]

Refreshments

Many Empire venues supplied New York Fries, Pretzelmaker, TCBY, and Pizza Pizza or Pizza 73 (such as Empire Theatres Pen Centre, Empire Theatres Guildford and Empire Theatres Bayer's Lake and IMAX Theatre in Bayer's Lake - Suburban Halifax, Nova Scotia). Along with these food venues, Empire Theatres also had their own traditional food venue in every theatre with food items such as popcorn and nachos.

Locations

The following is a provincial summary:

The following is a list of locations at time of closure:

References