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Studio Movie Grill has closed its north-side Indianapolis theater-and-restaurant venue after failing to renew its lease, the Dallas-based chain announced Thursday. The closure was effective Wednesday, it said.
The theater opened in 57,000 square feet at 3535 W. 86th St. in the College Park Plaza retail center in October 2013. The venue featured 13 auditorium theaters with dine-in service and a full bar.
“After a tremendous effort from the SMG team to renew the lease and reposition the location for future reinvestment, the decision was made to conclude operations on 86th Street effective Aug. 16, 2023,” the company said in a press release.
Studio Movie Grill operates 20 other venues with 213 total screens in six other states, but the College Park theater was the only one in Indiana.
“Closing a location is never easy, but we needed to act swiftly when we couldn’t reach an amicable solution for SMG to stay,” said Studio Movie Grill CEO Ted Croft in a written statement. “This is a special location for us and we’re grateful for the community and the team members who stuck by the brand through all of the challenges we experienced as an industry over the last few years.”
The company said it would “work with every team member affected by the closure” and would refund all pre-purchased movie tickets for upcoming showtimes.
Sid Eskenazi, founder and CEO of Sandor Development, which owns and manages College Park Plaza, expressed surprise by the closure and said Studio Movie Grill never gave him a “concrete answer” about terms of a lease renewal.
He said Sandor worked with the company and most of its tenants to help them survive the pandemic, “but you can only do so much.”
Eskenazi said he wished the theater was staying because it served a “great purpose” in busy 535,413-square-foot retail center that also includes a Walmart, Ross Dress for Less, Dollar Tree, At Home and Five Below and many other tenants.
He also said he thought the theater company was making a “big mistake” by exiting at a time when the movie industry is enjoying a surge in business thanks to “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” Both of those films had been playing at the College Park location.
“This month has been terrific for that business,” he said.
Founded in 2000, Studio Movie Grill grew to 34 locations in 10 states prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it downsized significantly early in the health crisis and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in October 2020, listing $50 million to $100 million in assets and liabilities between $100 million to $500 million.
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Just went to this location on Tuesday night and it was busy. I know they had been having some problems with their sewer lines because it seems like they were always stopped up and the main lobby smelt of sewer gas. Best deal in town to get 16 oz draft beers for $5 on a Tuesday
The viewing experience was never great here. I’m kind of surprised that it lasted this long.
The sewer lines were the only issue at this plase. Always smelled like sewage, but great staff and service. I like this place better than Brew Flix. Perhaps they can negotiate another place in Indy. There is room for a place like this in Indy. Movies are coming back!
Check out KanKan. Not the same experience at all, but still a great venue.
I went probably close to their opening 10 years ago and it was okay. But I noticed that they were basically always on GroupOn for next to nothing, and I haven’t heard anything positive about this location in a long time.
Flix in Carmel, even though it isn’t as good pre-pandemic, does what they do but way better.
All movie theaters are struggling now and have been since COVID. Whether they survive is up in the air. Part of it is of course the rather poor selection of movies provided by the Movie Industry, which is kind of sucking right now.
I have always considered this location my “home” movie theater going back to the Loew’s/Sony days and was really happy when it was rehabilitated as SMG after its brief stint being run as the “Movie Buff” theater by what I believe was just some nice person who liked to go to the movies. While I haven’t gone to any theater as much after 2020, we still alternated seeing movies at SMG along with at Kan Kan, which is nice in its own way, but much smaller. I am really sorry to see it go.