Curtain falls on The Waikiki 1, 2 and 3 Theatres showed their last movies last night as owner Consolidated Amusement abruptly shut the movie houses because of declining business.
Waikiki theaters
By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com"It's no longer a viable business," said Glenn Yim, Consolidated's vice president of operations. "Actually, it's losing money."
Yim said all 30 employees agreed to remain with the company, and most will be transferred to the Ward 16 Theatres, while a few will be transferred to the company's Kahala theaters.
Consolidated Amusement Co. has no immediate plans for the roughly two acres of land beneath the theaters and the adjacent parking structure, Yim said.
Consolidated is assuring the 100 vendors who sell tourist merchandise in nearby Duke's Lane that the theaters' closure will not hurt their business, Yim said. Consolidated is looking for ways to help the businesses, he said.
Yim announced the closure to employees at about 6 p.m. yesterday, he said.
"We've been talking about this for a while, but we didn't know what the date was and when we should actually close," he said. "It just seemed like the right thing to do it."
Yim said the three Waikiki theaters had been losing money for some time, catering mainly to tourists.
Consolidated had been considering redevelopment opportunities for the properties since 1990.
"We've had a lot of false starts," he said.
Yim said it was an emotional decision for him, since he grew up in Hawaii and recalled fondly standing in line for films' opening nights.
Before multiplex theaters sprang up across the island, the Waikiki theaters used to draw islanders from all over Oahu, often filling the 900-seat twin theaters on Seaside Avenue and the 1,200- to 1,300-capacity, Waikiki 3 on Kalakaua Avenue.
"They no longer attract the attendance they used to," he said.
Dane Gonsalves, a projectionist at the theaters, said he heard about the closure at about 7 p.m. and came back to work. "I just wanted to watch the movie to be the last one."
Customer Jamie Unciano, 26, who was waiting in line for the 10:30 p.m. showing of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" said, "I hardly come here. I usually go down Kapolei side. I think because of the crazy people here (on the streets). You don't want to stay here late."
Still, Unciano, a dancer for the "Magic of Polynesia" show at the Waikiki Beachcomber hotel, said she thought the theaters would be missed.
"I guess its good for the tourists who stay here in Waikiki and want to see a late movie."
Consolidated's IMAX movie theater in Waikiki will remain open.
Star-Bulletin reporter Genevieve Suzuki
contributed to this report.
