CinemaOne expands Gemstone theatres to Chaguanas, La Romaine

YVONNE WEBB and VISHANNA PHAGOO

CinemaOne is set to expand its movie theatre experience into Chaguanas and La Romaine – a venture that has the business districts eager for the premiere openings, and the promise of a renewal of the entertainment sector in central and south Trinidad.

CinemaOne will open its luxury-styled Gemstone theatres at Gulf City Mall, La Romaine – in San Fernando – before the end of October, with another making its way to Price Plaza, Chaguanas in the first quarter in 2023.

The La Romaine opening is part of a revival for Gulf City – one of the first malls in TT to have inbuilt movie theatres, nearly 30 years ago.

It was always felt that the cinemas and the first bowling alley which Gulf City introduced, but was forced to close, was ahead of its time.

Now, with a growing population and appreciation for this form of entertainment, CinemaOne CEO and co-founder of the Gemstone theatres, Ingrid Jahra, is set to capitalise on that market.

Jahra told Business Day that San Fernando was always on the cards for its operation.

In conversation with East Indian movies distributor Raj Maharaj, who used to manage the two 500-seat theatres at Gulf City, which attracted more customers than there were seats, Jahra is convinced a ready market awaits them. The theatres will be scaled down in size but not in grandeur, she said.

Indian movies will be one of CinemaOne’s attractions.

“We came to market with IMAX at One Woodbrook Place, our second experience with Gemstone is what we have brought to San Fernando.”

Two movie theatres – Ruby and Sapphire – with seating capacity for 126 movie lovers (58 and 68 seats respectively) will provide a much more intimate setting.

“It is a boutique-seat service, where there is no line. You come, purchase your ticket either on line or at the box office, look at your menu, go to your seat and refreshments are served.”

The allure, she said, are the chairs which are comfortable recliners.

“The setting is more intimate, the halls in San Fernando are different and bigger than the ones in Port of Spain.”

The small differences, she explained, is to ensure each location has something that is unique.

Jahra is not worried about the movie theatres – Caribbean Cinema at South Park and MovieTowne at C3, which are in close proximity to Gulf City.

“I am not in competition with them because they are not offering my movie experience.

“I know southerners like going to movies and I was looking for a market, that is why I came to South. I cannot give a set date for the opening, but fingers crossed, in the month of October.

“We are hoping to make it for the big movie title – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on November 10. If I am not opened by then, something is really wrong.”

There have been a number of soft openings on weekends, which was oversubscribed as people had to be turned away.

“Turning people back, that was a good experience.”

She said the test runs were to gauge the audience response and also to train staff who would be serving in a dark room.

Jahra spoke to Business Day at last week Wednesday’s opening of the five-day Southex International Exhibition 2022, at Gulf City where she was on hand to promote the Gemstone experience.

She also shared the plans for the Chaguanas theatres – called CineCentral – at a formal launch at the Brix Hotel, Autograph Collection, Coblentz Avenue, Cascade on Tuesday.

"CineCentral will provide a refreshed 26,000 square foot space with newly renovated spacious auditorium including cutting-edge sound and projection technology and extensive concession offerings."

Jahra said the estimated cost for the CineCentral project is $15 million. Renovations are already being done to what was formerly the MovieTowne cineplex – which closed in 2020, amid the pandemic and after ten years – over a tenancy dispute with the landlord, Endeavour Holdings Ltd (EHL)

It was a different experience for Jahra who said the pandemic opened many doors for CinemaOne.

She said this may all seem ambitious given the pandemic altered the way people consume movies as they now have the option of streaming, but she said there are still many people who want to be back in theatres.

"As the pandemic restrictions began to ease in the latter part of 2021, audiences gave a big hint they were ready to come back to our big screen movie theatres. Spiderman No Way Home was released in December 2021 and has garnered a record-breaking US$1.9 billion in box office and that's just one title."

She said this trend continued with other big releases in the cinematic universe, but the box office receipts are yet to reflect those of 2019 as it has dropped to US$19.3 billion. Jahra said a key highlight was the month of July which accumulated US$3.37 million, which is the highest within the pandemic era.

"As we continue to expand our CinemaOne brand in major local markets, we could not be more thrilled to share our version of movie-going to the Chaguanas community. The CinemaOne's entry into the Chaguanas market is with Endeavour Holdings Ltd. Both companies are first and second entities to be listed in the small-to-medium enterprise tier of the TT stock exchange and now, are collaborating to ignite movie-going in the rapidly expanding and vibrant city of Chaguanas."

Jahra said she is also looking forward to being able to offer job opportunities for between 60 to 80 people once the new CineCentral complex is completed.

Endeavour Holdings chairman John Aboud said it was long journey, but it's now completed with the lease already signed and he is anxious to give people of central Trinidad that movie-going experience.

"We are very delighted to have them there in addition to CinemaOne, we're going to have some additional areas of entertainment that we can't discuss yet, but it compliments cinema and CinemaOne."

Aboud said these establishments will be made public soon once negotiations are over and they have finalised their arrangements.

CinemaOne was also welcomed by Gulf City PRO Sarah Ragoonath who told Business Day at the Southex expo that the pandemic crippled mall operations.

She also noted that with regulations relaxed, the shopping complex is bouncing back to again become the premier mall, not just in San Fernando but in TT.

“We pride ourselves on being leaders in the mall industry,” said Ragoonath who revealed that in addition to its physical upgrade, the mall has attracted new clients in keeping with its goal.

In addition to the Gemstone-themed luxury theatre experience, “We look forward to the opening of Kappa Drugs, Ansa Merchant Bank, Dimsum King, The Fortune Shop and Popeye’s before the year is over.”

Ragoonath said the expo’s Back to Business theme was most appropriate not only for that particular event, but for the mall as well.

Southex started its expo at Gulf City some 32 years ago, but over the past two years suspended the event due to the pandemic.

The activity brought back businesses from across the country and shoppers.

“I smile and thank God for the opportunity to be here, to celebrate the opening of Southex and to be back to business, since as we all know, the covid 19 pandemic crippled our mall operations.

“Yet we can proudly say, with the proper guidance and leadership from our directors, we were able to overcome and push forward full steam ahead.

“Our ongoing facade upgrade demonstrates our commitment to progress.”

She said their goal is to have 1,000 employees working at Gulf City, creating an ecosystem where Gulf City will provide shopping, dining, entertainment and fulfill all lifestyle activities.

In keeping with seasonal entertainment, she said their upcoming activities will include a world class Divali celebration, a Kids Halloween costume competition and the launch of the Christmas season with a fitting ambience created Mac Farlene Design Studios.

An optimistic Ragoonath declared, “The best days are ahead.”