Sioux City's Promenade Cinema rolls with changes of moviegoing

In the 35 years following, he and his wife Colleen's start in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, the company has expanded to Chicago, Elkhorn, Nebraska; Milwaukee, Nebraska City, Nebraska; Omaha, and, of course, Sioux City. 

They also buy films and do consulting work for another 30 theaters across five states. 

Oh, and Colleen serves as the chairwoman of the Independent Theater Owners Committee, a part of the National Association of Theatre Owners which represents a reported 35,000 screens in 50 states and additional theaters in 101 countries.

Across the decades of growth, promotion and industry lobbying, Barstow said the biggest change for his company has been to realize the industry he's actually in.

"It happened pre-pandemic for us. It was the epiphany that we are an entertainment business that has to stand on our own," Barstow said. "In the old days, we were comfortable selling pop and popcorn and waiting for the next big wave to hit. And you always rode that wave. At some point it became: We’ve got to do more. We can control our destiny if we do food and beverage more."

To that point, Barstow said admissions for the Promenade, which runs 14 screens, were about 130,000 through mid-September. 

"If you’re running 100,000 people through, think if you can sell an extra $5 of food," Barstow said.

With respect to the Promenade, the menu is expanded to now include items such as pizza, an OG Hot Dog (which is a hot dog sprinkled with pork rinds and scallions) and kettle fries, and even a Jack Daniels whiskey and Coca-Cola frozen drink. Though traditional movie theater options, like soft drinks, popcorn, nachos and candy continue to make up about 75% of concession revenue for the Promenade, Barstow said the higher-end stuff serves a purpose. 

"Adult beverages and cafe items really add to (experience). It’s not so much selling the glass of wine as it is selling the experience," Barstow said.

And Barstow said he sees the experience extending beyond just the specific movie being screened and what a customer decides to buy at the snack bar. Which is why he said the Promenade's had $1 million put toward a new lobby, a new box office, new arcade games and new seating (heated, push-button-controlled recliners with cupholders in each armrest).

"If you're coming to a movie now at Promenade Cinema, you're getting the recliner seating," Mike Barstow, the vice president of Main Street Theatres and son of Bill, told The Journal in 2022.

What's being shown to moviegoers has changed as well for the Promenade.

Bill Barstow said the multiplex has looked at more options from Fathom Events, which, among things, screens live stage performances, and concert films such as "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour." For its opening day, Oct. 13, the Promenade had eight showings. AMC Southern Hills 12 in Sioux City had five lined up in a two-hour window. In a Variety story about the film's debut, Chris Randelman, the CEO of Flix Brewhouse, which runs 10 theaters, said, "It’s like Christmas morning."

2023's been kind to the Promenade, Barstow said, as there have been record-breaking films like "The Super Mario Bros. Movies," ($1.36 billion worldwide gross), "Barbie," ($1.43 billion worldwide gross) and "Oppenheimer" ($900 million through September).

"We’ve always thought 2024 was going to be our big year," Barstow said about when he anticipated theaters would make a full return to levels seen in 2018 and 2019, the year nine films crossed $1 billion gross.

"There’s been a great reset. You can’t create excitement without a theatrical release," he said.

Though 78% of U.S. households subscribe to at least one or more streaming services (per a May Forbes piece), Barstow doesn't see an inherent threat to theatrical releases.

"The streaming customer and home theater customer is our best customer," he said. "Someone who has an 80-inch television with home seating, do you think he’s in line to see the new Avengers movie on opening weekend or is he waiting?"

And when that fan comes out to a theater such as the Promenade, new amenities will be there. 

"We’re agnostic to the entertainment we’re selling," Barstow said. "It’s become more and more about amenities to move the market."