Film fans express dismay with changes since AMC took over Cinetopia locations

AMC rebranding

Cinetopia made a name for itself in the Portland area as a luxury alternative to conventional multiplexes, featuring full-scale bars and restaurants connected to the lobby area and cozier auditoriums with in-seat meal service.

The company took its first step beyond the Portland market when it opened a multiplex in Overland Park, Kan., in 2014 — within a few miles of both an AMC theater and AMC’s corporate headquarters. Four years later, Cinetopia filed a lawsuit alleging that AMC had tanked the Overland Park Cinetopia by pressuring studios to withhold new release movies from competing theaters near AMC locations.

The legal battle reached an out-of-court settlement in May 2019. That same week, AMC announced that it would acquire Cinetopia and rebrand its four locations, including the Vancouver Mall theater and the former Cinetopia multiplex in Cascade Park.

In December, The Columbian included the AMC takeover on its list of Top Business Stories of 2019. The story generated a large number of social media comments about the theaters, prompting The Columbian to put out a Facebook post asking moviegoing readers to share their experiences at the two rebranded Vancouver multiplexes.

The post received about 200 comments and generated more than a dozen emails to The Columbian, the vast majority of which were negative. Although the post was in no way a scientific survey, the anecdotal feedback suggested that a significant number of Vancouver customers have been frustrated by some of the changes at the new versions of the theaters.

Customer concerns

The loss of features was the leading complaint, with comments mainly focused on the loss of in-seat food service and available alcoholic beverages — two of Cinetopia’s biggest selling points.

“AMC took away the food options we came to depend on when visiting Cinetopia,” wrote Christy MacBean. “We typically go to the movies for a meal but the AMC offerings don’t quite cut it.”

AMC does offer in-seat meal service at a small number of its locations under the AMC DINE-IN brand, but most of the Cinetopia locations — including the Vancouver Mall and Mill Plain theaters — were converted to regular multiplexes with conventional concession counters.

The attached restaurants and bars were changed to an AMC brand called MacGuffins, but they didn’t reopen for months after the AMC takeover.

“I really do miss having a restaurant on site. It was so nice to be able to just go and eat dinner at the theater. Or even order a drink,” wrote Ellen Rodda, who described herself as a former weekly Cinetopia customer.

Some of the complaints focused on problems that didn’t appear to originate with the AMC takeover, such as theater seats deteriorating from long-term wear and tear or customers being asked to purchase tickets at the concession counter rather than the box office — a practice that Cinetopia also sometimes employed.

“Towards the end, there was a noticeable dip in facility maintenance and customer service, but the food remained good quality, the theaters remained clean, and the concessions stayed consistent,” Don Lee wrote about the Cinetopia at Vancouver Mall. He said the cleanliness and food quality both fell after the takeover.

Bennett told The Columbian that there were maintenance issues toward the end of Cinetopia’s tenure that the company didn’t seem to bother addressing — but AMC hasn’t made any new investments either.

Other comments were more specific, such as complaints that it took too much time to install the new “freestyle” soda machines and get them fully stocked, or a lack of cleanliness in the restrooms and auditoriums and poor customer service during specific visits, although those complaints weren’t universal.

“Even with these issues the staff has been friendly and nice throughout the transition and now,” wrote Jenny Heironymus.

AMC responds

AMC public relations director Ryan Noonan said some of the complaints pertain to temporary issues that have since been resolved. The concession counter lineup has expanded to include AMC’s full “Feature Fare” menu, which includes items like mac & cheese bites, flatbread pizzas, pretzel bits and mini tacos.

The local theaters weren’t able to offer the full menu until December due to the need to obtain permitting and install new equipment behind the counter, Noonan said, so customers who visited last year experienced an abridged lineup.

The lack of alcohol was also temporary, he said, because Cinetopia was grandfathered into a type of liquor license that was no longer available to movie theaters and couldn’t be transferred. AMC didn’t receive its new licenses until December.

The former Brewtopia bar on the second floor of the Vancouver Mall theater has reopened under the MacGuffins brand. Although the theaters no longer offer in-seat food and drink service, Noonan said customers can order drinks at the bar and take them into the auditoriums.

Noonan said he couldn’t comment on staffing levels, but he said that both Vancouver theaters retained their Cinetopia management teams after the transition, and that all of the former Cinetopia employees had been offered placements at AMC locations.

Noonan also declined to comment about longer-term maintenance issues or renovation plans, although he indicated that major upgrades don’t happen quickly, referencing another movie chain that AMC took over in 2017 called Carmike Cinemas.

“After the Carmike acquisition, in most cases it was about a two-year turnaround time from when we acquired to when we were able to start renovating,” he said — although he emphasized that there are currently no renovation plans in place for the former Cinetopia locations.

Some of the viewers who spoke to The Columbian also mentioned that the number of late-night shows appeared to have been cut back, with the latest showtimes now around 7 p.m.

Noonan noted that this was primarily the case on weeknights — Fandango listings for the Vancouver theaters do include movies starting as late as 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. Nationwide, AMC’s showtime scheduling strategy is driven by customer demand, he said.

“I can’t speak to how they were programmed prior to AMC taking over operations, however, I can say that there’s been no targeted cutback of showtimes at those two locations,” Noonan wrote in an email.