Digital Cinema Destinations with its joint venture partner Start Media has announced the addition of two new theater locations: a sixteen-screen multiplex in Solon Ohio (near Cleveland) and a three-screen cinema in Sparta New Jersey through negotiation of direct leases with the landlords who own the theaters. The Sparta lease began January 1 and the Solon property agreement begins February 1. Both theaters are newly converted to digital and will be operated by Digiplex under management agreements with subsidiaries of its recently formed joint venture Start Media/Digiplex. In the near future the Solon property will feature five 3D-compatible screens and Sparta will have one. Digiplex chairman and CEO Bud Mayo said We are picking up where we left off in 2012 following the late December completion of our UltraStar acquisition in which Digiplex added 74 screens in the Southern California and Arizona markets. The Solon sixteen-plex is our first theater in Ohio and the three-screen facility based in Sparta marks our third New Jersey location. With the addition of these two properties we will have 18 locations with an aggregate of 178 screens on the growing Digiplex digital platform. We are pleased with the company's progress and plan to continue our aggressive pace of expansion as we strive to achieve a goal of managing 100 theaters and 1000 screens in top DMAs across the country. Davis development group vice president Paul Yusko said We are delighted that Digiplex a dynamic and forward-thinking leader in the theatrical exhibition space has agreed to operate our Solon Ohio multiplex property. As a key anchor tenant on Enterprise Parkway we are confident that their further improvements to the theater and their unique focus on showcasing alternative non-cinematic programming - from opera to live sports - and successful community outreach via social media will help drive additional theater attendance as well as incremental traffic to the area's surrounding retailers including several nearby restaurants and fast food establishments.
