General Cinema Corporation

General Cinema
Industry Entertainment (movie theatres)
Fate Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Acquired by AMC Theatres
Founded 1935 (1935)
Defunct 2002 (2002)
Headquarters Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Key people
 Philip Smith, founder

General Cinema Corporation, also known as General Cinema, GCC, or General Cinema Theatres, was a chain of movie theaters in the United States. It operated from 1935 until 2002.

History

At its peak the company operated approximately 621 screens, some of which were among the first cinemas certified by THX.

The mascot of General Cinema Corporation was Popcorn Bob and his Candy Band, which was on the company's policy trailers from 1993 until 2002. The mascots were created by Lucasfilm.

Starting in the 1960s General Cinema diversified into other businesses. At times they owned the department store Neiman Marcus, the publisher Harcourt Brace, radio stations in several major markets (notably WEFM in Chicago, KRBE in Houston, WZGC in Atlanta, WGCL in Cleveland, and WIFI in Philadelphia), and TV station WCIX in Miami. They formed a joint venture theater chain with Hoyts, known as Hoyts General Cinema, that had locations throughout South America.

The company suffered greatly when it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2000. They also switched their beverage supplier from Pepsi to Coca-Cola in 2001.

What remained of the company afterward was acquired by AMC Theatres in 2002. With the acquisition, the Credits loyalty program merged into the MovieWatcher network.

The General Cinema Corp. trademark was placed up for auction on December 8, 2010.[1] As of 2011, this trademark has been recently published for opposition by JTE Multimedia.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Racebrook Trademark Auction
  2. ↑ U.S. Trademark Info on General Cinema

External links


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