MovieTowne owner happy cinemas can sell food, drinks

MovieTowne owner Derek Chin is pleased with the Prime Minister’s decision to allow food and drinks to be sold at cinemas once again.

Dr Rowley made the announcement at a press conference on Saturday afternoon.

Previously, he had allowed cinemas to reopen at a 50 per cent capacity but the selling and consumption of food and drinks at these places were not allowed.

But MovieTowne and Caribbean Cinemas Ltd had agreed to remain closed until this was allowed again, as a major part of their sales come from their concession stands.

Speaking with Newsday on Saturday, Chin said the announcement was “good news” for all cinema owners.

“We can now have a reason to open, even though things will be a little difficult in terms of the response and all that, but it is obviously a start in the right direction. And we assure the Prime Minister and the population that we obviously have protocols in place and we will make sure we monitor everything.”

Asked how difficult it would be to ensure people in a dark room only remove their masks to eat and/or drink, he said he does not believe it will be challenging.

“In a cinema, they’re all looking in one direction. They’re not walking around like they’re in a supermarket or anything like that. They’re sitting and facing the screen and social distancing.”

He said “it is not a good time” to increase ticket prices, despite suffering profit losses.

At the MovieTowne branches, he said there are the optional temperature-checks, and mandatory wearing of a face mask or face shield, mandatory handwashing/hand sanitisation and the implementation of physical distancing measures.

“There is a possibility we may have dividers if family want to have (seat) separations. We are actually making them now to put between the seats, so that should make it very safe.”