Galaxy Cinemas a cosmic hit with Red Deer
06/18/08
BY JOHNNIE BACHUSKY
Red Deer Express
Red Deer’s first entertainment destination point has made a gigantic early splash with the public.
With the doors of Galaxy Cinemas Red Deer only opening three months ago, the brand new $13 million venue in Gasoline Alley’s Liberty Park has been chosen as the gold medal winning choice among Express readers as the Best Movie Theatre in the Best of Red Deer awards.
“We are truly honoured to receive this award from our guests. We are extremely proud of our team,” said Georgia Sourtzis, manager of communications for Cineplex Entertainment.
“People are definitely showing up and loving our theatre. Already it is the entertainment destination point in Red Deer.”
Although the new 43,000 sq.-ft. theatre complex, which features 10 screens and 2,000 all-stadium seats, had its grand official opening on June 4, Galaxy Cinema has been wowing movie lovers since March.
Along with the most up to date big hit movies, guests are also being offered with a party room, automated ticketing kiosks and a broad refreshment selection that includes Pizza Pizza, fresh cuts fries, chicken tenders, TCBY frozen yogurt and nachos.
Cineplex Entertainment is a Toronto-based corporation that markets itself as the largest motion picture exhibitor in Canada.
The company, which is listed and trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (CGX.UN), has 132 theatres with more than 1,300 screens in Canada from British Columbia to Quebec.
Cineplex, which serves more than 61 million customers annually, operates under the brand names of Cineplex Odeon, Galaxy, Famous Players, Coliseum, Colossus, SilverCity, Cinema City and Scotiabank Theatres.
The company was targeting Red Deer because of Alberta’s hot economy and the city’s growth.
“We were excited to build an entertainment destination point in Red Deer, and delighted to bring in a new state of the art theatre to residents,” said Sourtzis.
“We believed it was time Red Deer should have its first all stadium seating theatre.”
She pointed out that seating in older style theatres is traditionally sloped but with Galaxy each row is 18 inches higher than the one in front, offering movie lovers optimum viewing from anywhere in the theatre.
While attendance for movies at Galaxy has pleased the company, and proving Red Deer was worth the investment, the theatre is already making plans for additional attractions next year.
As with other markets, the company plans on bringing in alternative programming events to Galaxy, including NHL hockey games, live music concerts and live opera performances from New York City.
“We have been doing this in other places for the past two years and it has been very successful,” said Sourtzis.
“Next year in Red Deer we will bring in some of these events so when guests come they will have a wide variety of programs to see.”
jbachusky@reddeer.greatwest.ca 309-5456
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