Carmike Cinemas
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Carmike Cinemas is a movie theatre corporation headquartered in Columbus, Georgia in the United States of America. It currently operates 311 theatres in 37 states, making it the fourth largest theatre company in the United States.
Carmike was founded when its present President and CEO, Michael W. Patrick, and his father, Carl L. Patrick, Sr. acquired Martin Theatres from Fuqua Industries in 1982.[1] The theatre name comes from a combination of Carl L. Patrick, Sr.'s two sons, Carl Jr. and Michael, hence Carmike. Actual operations are largely carried out by Vice President of Theater Operations, Gary Krannacker and Vice President of Concessions Matt Shirley.
Carmike theaters are largely positioned in rural or suburban areas where Carmike Cinemas will hold a sort of pseudo-monopoly on the entertainment industry in the area. Most of its older theaters are six or eight auditoriums deep. Since declaring bankruptcy in 2001, many theaters in dead markets were closed down, and some were renovated or relocated in areas with desirable market potential. Most of these newer theaters are 10 screens or larger. One such theater which closed as a result of the bankruptcy was the Indian Hills Theater in Omaha, Nebraska, containing the largest indoor screen in the United States.
[edit] New technology
In 2006, Carmike Cinemas launched a contract with Christie Digital Systems to convert all its auditoriums to Texas Instruments DLP projection technology over the course of the next few years.
[edit] References
- ^ Fuqua to Sell Theater Unit, nytimes.com; retrieved February 2007
