Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is opening a new theatre in Charlottesville, Virginia. The 33,000-square-foot Alamo Drafthouse Cinema will be the first in the Charlottesville market area and is expected to open in early summer 2017.
"We have been interested in opening a Charlottesville location for years now and couldn't be more excited to have landed at 5th Street Station with a great developer and phenomenal co-tenancy,” said Anthony Coco and Joseph Edwards, co-owners of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Charlottesville. “Being Virginia residents and having the pleasure of visiting Charlottesville many times over the last few years, we are positive Alamo and Charlottesville are a fantastic fit. We feel confident the city will embrace our chef-driven, from-scratch food and over 30 craft beer options, served to your seat throughout the film. These offerings along with our amazing special events and the quality of our sound and presentation create the coolest cinema experience available.”
Coco and Edwards met when both held top management positions at the food services company Deli Management. They left in 2010 to focus on growing a business of their own, which is now Cojeaux Cinemas. Their first Alamo Drafthouse Cinema location at One Loudoun in Ashburn, Virginia opened very successfully and has maintained a position in the top four grossing Alamo Drafthouse locations nationwide. I spoke recently with Coco and Edwards about their newest venture.
Digital Cinema Report: What led to your decision to open an Alamo Drafthouse theatre?
Anthony Coco & Joseph Edwards: We started as fans of the concept. The Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar in Austin Texas was where we would go to catch a film, special event, or just to enjoy a local craft beer and delicious meal. As we transitioned away from the restaurant business we decided that The Alamo concept needed to be shared in other parts of the country so we approached the ownership and successful got the rights to open some theaters, our first is in Ashburn, Virginia and Charlottesville will be our second.
DCR: What other cinema chains, if any, did you consider working with prior to deciding to open an Alamo Drafthouse theatre?
AC & JE: Zero. We have always loved seeing films on the big screen but the unique experience that Alamo offers from the texting policy to the events to the from scratch food and beverage options made Alamo our first and only choice.
DCR: What made you choose the Charlottesville area?
AC & JE: We feel the demographic makeup including but not limited to the level of educational attainment, income and lifestyle of the Charlottesville market makes it a prime target for Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. We look forward offering extensive food and beverage service direct to the seat and special programming to Charlottesville.
DCR: Some housekeeping questions. How many screening rooms will there in your theatre? How many seats will be in each and what size screens? What projectors, servers and audio systems do you plan to install? How many fulltime employees?
AC & JE: We currently have seven screens planned of varying sizes between 65 and 225 seats. All auditoriums will be fully equipped with Sony Digital 4K Cinema projection systems along with their TMS system and QSC 7.1 audio. We are also considering the installation of Dolby Atmos in one of the large auditoriums.
DCR: Thank you.