Neighborhood Cinema Group
Neighborhood Cinema Group, branded as NCG Cinemas, is a chain of movie theaters headquartered in Owosso, Michigan. The chain consists at present of 15 theaters with 147 screens. Most of the theaters are located in Michigan, especially in the Flint and Great Lakes Bay region and the Greater Lansing area. In recent years the chain has expanded to include theaters in the Chattanooga, Tennessee, Metro Atlanta, Chicago areas, Indiana and South Carolina
History
Until 1985, Shiawassee County, Michigan had no multiplex cinema. This changed when Owosso's Capitol Theater (now Lebowsky Center) closed. When it was learned that the Capitol would close, Gary Geiger decided to build a multiplex theater in downtown Owosso which opened shortly thereafter. That first theater became, and remains, the headquarters of the NCG Cinema chain. In 1987, Geiger entered the Genesee County market by purchasing the Clio Cinemas, which had been built in 1974. The Alma Cinemas were built by Geiger in 1989, followed by the Greenville Cinemas the next year. The Neighborhood Cinema Group branding was first introduced in 1992, the year the chain's Midland, Michigan theater opened. By the end of the 20th century, two more theaters, located in Lapeer and Coldwater, Michigan, had opened.
The 21st Century saw NCG enter the Lansing market in 2002 with their flagship 18-screen location (NCG Eastwood Cinemas) at Eastwood Towne Center, followed by its expansion to a second state, Indiana, in 2005 with the opening of their Auburn, Indiana theater. A year later, the chain completed a 14-screen theater located in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, known as the Trillium Cinemas. At the same time, most of their older theaters were retrofitted to include stadium-style seating, and a few of them added more screens.[1] The NCG Trillium Cinemas added an IMAX screen in 2007, bringing the number of screens at that theater to 15. Shortly thereafter, the Geigers expanded south in Gallatin, Tennessee. Following the closing of the Clio Cinemas (which would reopen in 2011 under the management of Emagine Entertainment), NCG leased the former National Amusements theater at Courtland Center in Burton. The theater, which has six screens, was remodeled entirely, reopening in 2011 as the NCG Courtland Center Cinemas. In 2008, NCG built a new 12-screen theater near Acworth, Georgia.[2] In 2012, NCG acquired a ten-screen cinema in Marietta, Georgia, from Regal Entertainment Group. The theater was remodeled and reopened that year.[3] That same year, the NCG Eastwood Cinema added its 19th screen, NCG's first X-treme screen. In 2013, NCG's first Illinois theater, the Kendall Crossing 10, opened in Yorkville, Illinois.[4] The NCG Cinemas are still owned and operated by the Geiger family.