RIP Franchises of our youths

[thatguy]

I remember the old Fry's on Lawrence (before it moved to Arques) was fashioned to look like an integrated circuit and inside it had giant capacitors and resistors all over.

I liked the various themes for each, but that always seemed so disconnected from the customer experience they offered (akin to "Being Hit on the Head Lessons")

--tg

[King Bob]

I guess - rather like Tower Records - online selling was not on their radar. No surprise that a store with terrible customer service couldn't compete with online sellers, and some of their clientele probably didn't want to interact with people either.

[Drunk Monk]

RIP Toys R Us & Claires 

I met Darth Vader at Toys R Us.  It was the haunted one, the one in Svale.  It was a promo for the first action figures.  There was Darth, a Stormtrooper and R2.  We all lined up and they came out, quickly shook hands and then disappeared into the bowels of the store, probably to hang out with the ghost of the girl who drowned in the well there and haunted it still.  Maybe ED was with me?  That seems like something we might have done together back in those days.  I grew up in that Toys R Us.  I mentioned this to Tara and she has fond memories of my mom taking her there for her birthday and picking out a present.  "That was the best" she told me when we were chatting about this recently.

Toys R Us Gets New Owner, Planning to Re-Open Stores Again

By SPENCER PERRY - March 15, 2021 06:26 pm EDT

It's been almost three years since all of the Toys R Us stores closed in the United States after the parent company for the brand filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In the time since there have been attempts to revive the brand with pop-up stores debuting in select locations (meaning very few) but even those couldn't last as the final two were closed earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the Tru Kids parent company, which owns Toys R Us, Babies R Us and Geoffrey the Giraffe, has a new owner and they intend to re-open stores around the United States once again in a variety of locations and styles.

“We’re in the brand business, and Toys R Us is the single most credible, trusted and beloved toy brand in the world,” Yehuda Shmidman, chairman and chief executive officer of WHP Global revealed to [i]CNBC[/i] in an interview on Monday. “We’re coming off a year where toys are just on fire. ... And for Toys R Us, the U.S. is really a blank canvas....The restructurings took a big toll on the company, and then Covid is, hopefully, once in a century. But now we’re getting past those two things. And the sky’s the limit.”
Following the bankruptcy filing for Tru Kids there were further attempts to keep the Toys R Us brand alive including partnering with Target and later Amazon for online shopping of toys. Now though Shidman says the plan is to once again open stores across the US carrying the brand name. In addition to the large flagship stores, he noted they intend to do more pop-ups as well as locations inside airports and mini-stores inside other retailers (like what The Disney Store has done inside Target). No number has been set for how many stores they intend to open, but they're aiming for this year and before the holiday season.
“There are so many malls that will no longer be in the future, so we don’t need to be there,” Shmidman added. “But we could be in malls that do have traffic. ... So we really have an opportunity not just to capture that experience for toys that people are yearning for, but also capture where [people] want to shop. That will be very interesting post-Covid.”

[thatguy]

Another Phoenix story:

https://lookout.co/santacruz/coronavirus...management

With Regal gone, Cinema 9 to reopen as ‘Santa Cruz Cinema’ under new operator

After Regal Cinemas decided to close the Pacific Avenue movie house permanently, a family owned company is stepping in to save it. Now, movies are set to resume there on March 25 — and beer and wine might soon be on sale, too.
[/url]
Source:  Lookout Santa Cruz 
March 19, 2021 11:43 AM
A new operator is stepping in to save the Cinema 9 multiplex in downtown Santa Cruz — and rebrand it under a new name — in a deal that will see the movie house reopen at 25% capacity next week under state COVID-19 rules. 
And, if everything goes as planned, filmgoers might soon be able to have a glass of beer or wine as they watch their flicks, some of which will be shown in 3D.
The new operator, called Santa Cruz Cinema, is affiliated with Sywest Development, the owner of the Pacific Square retail development that includes Cinema 9. 
Until recently, Cinema 9 had been operated by Regal Cinemas under a lease with Sywest. But facing struggles amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Regal [url=https://lookout.co/santacruz/coronavirus/covid-economy/story/2021-02-17/santa-cruz-downtown-cinema-9-regal-closes-covid]told its employees in mid-February that it would be ending operations at Cinema 9 permanently.
[img=375x0]https://lookout.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8dcf446/2147483647/strip/true/crop/703x348+0+0/resize/840x416!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flookout-local-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F44%2F83%2F2a22389d4850a52bf97d32a0f1ca%2Fscreen-shot-2021-03-19-at-2.54.31%20PM.png[/img]
The Santa Cruz Cinema logo, soon to be a fixture at the former Cinema 9.
(Courtesy Santa Cruz Cinema)

That prompted quick action by the city of Santa Cruz that helped lead to the theater-saving effort. Both Santa Cruz Cinema and Sywest Development are owned by Syufy Enterprises, a family-owned business that, until 2006, operated the Century Theatre chain and continues to be involved in the industry as an owner and operator of drive-in movie theaters. 
“We reached out to ... the property owner, as well as Regal cinemas a few weeks ago,” city Economic Development Director Bonnie Lipscomb told Lookout. “We have been talking to the owner for the last several weeks on keeping a theater use in Santa Cruz since that time.”
“We were extremely supportive of them continuing with a theater use as a priority,” Lipscomb said. “The Regal 9 served as a major anchor for downtown and the only remaining mainstream cinema in Santa Cruz.”
It will take some time, but, eventually, the Santa Cruz Cinema logo will replace Regal’s branding on the well-known marquee along Pacific Avenue, with branding inside to be changed more quickly, said Tony Maniscalco, who is overseeing marketing for Santa Cruz Cinema.
Maniscalco and other Santa Cruz Cinema representatives said they fully believe a post-pandemic Santa Cruz will be ideal for a successful theater business.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to reopen this theater and serve the Santa Cruz community,” said Nancy Crane, vice president of operations for Santa Cruz Cinemas. “With the support of the mayor, the city council, the city’s economic development team and, of course, the community, we are confident this theater will remain in business for a long time.”
Like other theaters locally and across the country, Santa Cruz Cinema is considering offering beer and wine sales to patrons, a move made possible by a city ordinance change approved last year shortly before the pandemic. 
Beer and wine sales have “been critical for theaters around the country who are competing with streaming services and need to provide a more full-service experience,” Lipscomb said. “We are in discussions with the owner about permitting this expanded use for the new theater as part of their business model.”
[img=375x0]https://lookout.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/9c57f69/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1600x1067+0+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flookout-local-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F02%2F49%2Fbb6a09d243dba61c1e9bd90a2102%2Fi-5pcj3fh-x3.jpg[/img]
Posters for the movies Mortal Kombat and Godzilla vs. Kong hang in the former Cinema 9 ahead of its opening under a new name and management on March 25, 2021.
(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

Opening night for the theater, which is equipped with 3D technology on two of its nine screens, is set for Thursday, March 25, with films including “Nobody,” “Boogie,” and “Raya and the Last Dragon” on the show schedule. 
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for the first show on March 25, and the multiplex will move to normal late-morning opening times the following day. Show schedules are being posted at santacruzcinema.com
Syufy Enterprises, owned by the Syufy family, has a long history in the movie business. But in 2006, the company divested Century Theatres and began diversifying into other hospitality and sports-related businesses. 
Still, Syufy remains the largest owner and operator of drive-in movie theaters in the country, with four West Wind Drive-In locations in California (including one in San Jose), two in Nevada, and one in Arizona.
The news that Santa Cruz Cinema will keep the Pacific Avenue multiplex humming elated downtown business owners, who see it as a vital part of what draws people to Santa Cruz.
“I literally squealed with excitement,” said Jennalee Dahlen, who owns Yoso Wellness Spa, which is just a short walk from the cinema. “I feel that this will be fantastic for our community and the downtown economy — and love that it is a local cinema stepping in to take this on.”

From keeping an eye on everything from businesses’ struggles to government finances, COVID Economy Watch is among eight Lookout initiatives documenting all aspects of the pandemic. For more, go to our COVID 2021 section, sign up for COVID Text Alerts and our COVID PM newsletter here, and leave feedback and ask questions at the end of this story.

— tg

[Greg]

Syufy to the rescue.

[King Bob]

And I thought Syufy was long gone with the Century theaters.

[Greg]

Me, too.

[cranefly]

Received an email today from this place, which in part reads:

When the Covid pandemic first struck, we closed our doors to the public for the first time in our long history. This was a big transition for us; there were moments when we weren't sure what the future would look like with so much of the world in flux. Almost fifteen months later, we are faced with a new and daunting task: moving forward as a 100% online retailer. 

This decision to permanently close our doors to the public and operate solely online is extremely bittersweet for us! 

At least it's not going out of business, but it's sad to think we can't go there anymore.  We visited the place several times back when we were youthier.  It was very trippy.

https://www.californiacarnivores.com/pages/visit-us



Those visitations will be sorely missed.

[King Bob]

I'm annoyed I never knew about that. I would have gone. There is (maybe gone now) a smaller place like that on Hwy 92 in Half Moon Bay. Mostly just pitcher plants when I was there.

[Drunk Monk]

CinéArts, a haven for local cinephiles, permanently shutters
Movie theater company Cinemark Theatres confirms that it will not reopen Palo Alto Square venue

by Gennady Sheyner / Palo Alto Weekly
Uploaded: Tue, Jun 29, 2021, 9:44 am 26
Time to read: about 5 minutes

CinéArts, the movie theater at 3000 El Camino Real in Palo Alto that's best known for its focus on independent films, has permanently closed during the pandemic. Embarcadero Media file photo by Zachary Hoffman.
CinéArts at Palo Alto Square, a movie theater that for decades has been a popular destination for local film lovers, will not be reopening after the COVID-19 pandemic, the theater's parent company confirmed to this publication.
Like other entertainment venues across California, the movie theater has been closed since March 2020, when the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing public health orders forced it to shut down. Unlike most others, the Palo Alto Square institution will not be taking part in California's reopening.
"In light of the impact of COVID-19, Cinemark can confirm that it has made the business decision to permanently close its CinéArts at Palo Alto Square theater," a spokesperson for Cinemark told this publication in a statement.
While the pandemic may have contributed to the permanent closure of CinéArts, its future has been in doubt for years. The Texas-based theater company Cinemark, which purchased the Palo Alto theater from Landmark in 2001, had considered closing it in the summer of 2016, a decision that prompted an outpouring of concern from area residents and Palo Alto's elected leaders.
At that time, Cinemark had attributed its decision to close the movie theater to the changing market for movies, the theater's condition and the large amount of money that the company would need to invest to update it. The closure was narrowly averted after Cinemark inked a deal with Hudson Pacific Properties, the owner of Palo Alto Square, that extended the theater's operations until September 2018. As part of the deal, Hudson Pacific was required to make some building and landscaping upgrades.

Even at that time, however, city leaders had acknowledged that the deal represented only a temporary reprieve. Today, the website lists CinéArts at Palo Alto Square as "permanently closed" and states: "We look forward to welcoming you to another Cinemark location near you. We apologize for any inconvenience."
Cinemark owns numerous other theaters in the area, including Century Cinema 16 in Mountain View and Redwood Downtown 20 and XD in Redwood City. The Palo Alto Square theater is much smaller and, in many ways, quainter than either of those venues. Unlike its neighbors, CinéArts at Palo Alto Square focused largely on foreign, independent and arthouse films.
But while its small size and focus on independent movies may have made it harder for the Palo Alto theater to be as lucrative as the larger theaters showing blockbusters, these traits also have endeared CinéArts to local cinephiles. In 2016, more than 2,600 residents signed a petition within days of learning of Cinemark’s plans to close, urging the city and Hudson Pacific to retain CinéArts as a tenant at Palo Alto Square. The theater, the petition stated, "provides a critical part of cultural and entertainment life in Palo Alto."
"As only one of two first-run theaters in town, this theater provides access to valuable opportunities not otherwise possible in our community, including several prestigious film festivals, such as the United Nations Affiliated Film Festival and San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, and the popular New York Metropolitan Opera (The MET) simulcasts," the petition stated.
This time, there was little warning to the public about the theater's closure. Cinemark did not make any public statements about the closure and the City Council never publicly mentioned the closure, in sharp contrast to 2016 and 1997, when council members fought to keep the theater open. Sign up for free

This time, the timing of the closure made public engagement nearly impossible. Cinemark's decision was made in May — at a time when most other venues were similarly closed or subject to capacity limits and the city was still in social-distancing mode. This is in sharp contrast to 2016, when the theater abruptly stopped showing listings for future screenings, prompting inquiries from residents and the media.
Mayor Tom DuBois said the council learned about the closure just last week, when it received a letter from Hudson Pacific informing city staff about Cinemark's decision to close the theater. The movie-theater chain formally notified Hudson Pacific in May about the theater's closure.
"Century does not make this decision lightly, but given the unprecedented and tragic circumstances, Century has made this difficult decision," wrote Paul Ledbetter, real estate counsel to Century Theatres, one of the brands owned by Cinemark. "As you are aware, Century and the theatre exhibition industry as a whole faced a particularly acute challenge stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak due to the various local, State and Federal mandates specifically requiring the closure of public motion pictures. While such mandates were wide and prudent given the situation, it unfortunately resulted in economic hardships and unintended consequences for Century that ultimately led to this decision."
Cinemark Theatres, which owns CinéArts at Palo Alto Square, decided to close the theater in May 2021. Embarcadero Media file photo by Zachary Hoffman.
While the decision appeared to have been finalized in May, Hudson Pacific didn't inform the city about the theatre's closure until June 22, the council's final day in session before its summer recess. By that time, Cinemark had already removed its equipment from the building and returned the keys to Hudson Pacific.
Shawn McGarry, Hudson Pacific's senior vice president for Northern California, noted in his email to the city that Hudson Pacific has been offering the theater rents that are "well below market" in order to help it remain open.

"We had ongoing discussions with CinéArts to work with them throughout the pandemic, however, they ultimately made the decision to permanently close this location," McGarry wrote.
It remains unclear whether or not another theater company will move into the space left behind by CinéArts. The city approved the six-building development known as Palo Alto Square in 1969 through the "planned community" zoning, which allows exemptions from development standards such as height and density limits in exchange for public benefits. The zoning ordinance has since been revised twice, most recently in 2000.
While the ordinance lists theaters as a permitted use at the campus — along with banks, insurance firms, professional offices, restaurants and a 300-room hotel — it does not explicitly mandate a theater. However, city leaders and planning staff have argued in recent years that because the map associated with the 1969 PC ordinance showed a theater, the council’s approval of the map effectively makes the theater a required use.
CinéArts at Palo Alto Square was previously set to close in 2016, but was averted after Cinemark reached a deal with property owner Hudson Pacific Properties to extend theater operations. Embarcadero Media file photo by Zachary Hoffman.
City staff did not immediately respond to questions about the site's zoning and whether or not a theater is required. DuBois said that he hopes the city and Hudson Pacific can work together to find another theater chain that can fill that space. He cited as an example Alamo Drafthouse, a small theater in San Francisco's Mission District that is famous for serving food and beer to its movie patrons.
"There's quite a number of chains that specialize in a smaller footprint," DuBois said. "They're not necessarily looking for 20 screens, but maybe food and drinks and movies."
DuBois said the city has received some correspondence over the past week from residents who had just learned about the theater's closure.
"It served a unique need for independent film," he said. "I think a lot of people really liked it," DuBois said.
Hudson Pacific Properties, which purchased Palo Alto Square at 3000 El Camino Real from EQ Office in 2014, has so far not made any decisions about what will happen to the theater, according to the company.
"We are just beginning internal discussions about the space and unfortunately do not have any further details to share at this time," Meryl Vissel, a Hudson Pacific spokesperson, said in a statement Monday.

PA Square wasn't really a franchise of my youth, more my adulthood. In my youth, my Palo theater was the long gone Varsity. Later in my adulthood, Stacy had her office in Menlo and Tara went to elementary there so I started frequenting the theaters in the area - PA Square was nice, not as funky artsy as the other PA/MP houses, more like a typical multiplex, but it was clean and well maintained and the staff was courteous (unlike MQ6). I enjoyed my experiences there even if the movie sucked.

[King Bob]

I think I only ever went there once. It always seemed odd that there was a theater there. There used to be a couple of great funky theaters in downtown PA. One had couches down in the front and a cat would wander around during the movie.

[Greg]

Not really a franchise, but my favorite Chinese restaurant, Hong Fu, closed due to the pandemic. DM will remember it as one of the places we had a TCEC dinner. I was planning on have dinner there this weekend when i was in town.

[Drunk Monk]

Well, these weren't really around when we were young but...

//Disneyland

Four of the Bay Area's five remaining Disney Stores to permanently close
[/url]
Katie Dowd, SFGATE
Aug. 24, 2021Updated: Aug. 24, 2021 11:29 a.m.
[url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfgate.com%2Fdisneyland%2Farticle%2Fdisney-store-closures-california-bay-area-16408186.php%3Futm_campaign%3DCMS%2520Sharing%2520Tools%2520(Premium)%26utm_source%3Dt.co%26utm_medium%3Dreferral&text=Four%20of%20the%20Bay%20Area%27s%20five%20remaining%20Disney%20Stores%20to%20permanently%20close&via=SFGate]
[img=585x0]https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/15/55/31/20371032/3/1200x0.jpg[/img]
Shoppers social distance while waiting in line to enter the Disney Store in San Francisco on Dec. 8, 2020. 
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
For many '90s kids, the best place in the mall was the Disney Store. Stepping across its thickly carpeted threshold was the closest thing to a trip to Disneyland. The music, the (extremely overpriced) merchandise and the gigantic pyramid of stuffed animals was, to a 7-year-old, the second most magical place on Earth.




The end of an era has come for mall Disney Stores, however, as the company indicated it is closing most of its last remaining Bay Area stores. According to the Disney site, these stores will be permanently shuttered:
Sunvalley Mall in Concord: Closing on or before Sept. 15
Stockton Street in San Francisco: Closing on or before Sept. 8
Serramonte Center in Daly City: Closing on or before Sept. 15
Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara: Closing on or before Sept. 15
That leaves the Disney Store Outlet in Livermore's San Francisco Premium Outlets as the last store standing in the region. 
Disney has been moving away from standalone stores for some time. Instead, it is integrating its products into Target store displays and focusing on its online store. On Monday, Target announced it was adding more than 100 new Disney "shops" inside their current locations before the holiday season.
Disney is expected to close about 60 stores in North America this year.

There's a Disney store at Newpark Mall near Tiger Claw. I hit up that mall once a week for some 20 years. It was a nice break. There were a few places I liked at the food court. The Japanese grill made a decent salmon plate and the burrito place was good while it lasted. I'd walk the mall popping into the shops to see what pop culture was doing. I hit up the D store a lot hoping to find some cool Star Wars gear (not sure if I ever bought anything there). 

I miss that mall oddly enough. It was such a part of my life for 20 feckin years. I knew the shop owners. I had my fav shops I'd hit up. I must return there someday, when the pandemic subsides, if it ever does...

[Greg]

There were still Disney stores out there????? I thought they had closed up shop long ago.

[King Bob]

I rarely go to Valley Fair so I didn't know it was still there.

On a related note, Toys R Us is now online with Macy's