Augusta Exchange (Evans: how much, to buy, movie theater)

[Pu239]

Aiken needs an Outlet Mall... yeah... that's the ticket!

[nortonguy]

Originally Posted by nortonguy

Twin Peaks(upscale version of Hooters) will replace the former Sticky Fingers restaurant at 277 Robert C Daniel Parkway(Fuddruckers was also rumored to open here)... I believe the existing property will be demolished..
http://www.twinpeaksrestaurant.com/

The new Twin Peaks restaurant has begun construction in the AE..

[nortonguy]

Another hotel(88 room SpringHill Suites by Marriott) is coming to the Augusta Exchange area. This is the third recently built hotel(Homewood Suites by Hilton and Residence Inn by Marriott) in the same area. The Augusta Exchange area offers the best opportunity to become the first edge city in metro Augusta.

Planning & Zoning - Project Search Details

There's a few other hotels moving along in the county. The Hampton Inn & Suites underway off Washington road/I-20 in West Augusta and two hotels(one of them a Homewood Suites by Hilton) at 2169 Gordon Hwy in South Augusta).

[Ayermom2]

What kind of sale is going on at the old sports authority?

[GRU_Minion]

Originally Posted by Ayermom2

What kind of sale is going on at the old sports authority?

The same one that comes around every 6 months or so either there or at the fairgrounds on Hale Street near downtown. I've noticed this time they are misrepresenting it as a "Store closing sale!!!" all over the radio. The commercials advertise tablets, laptops, shoes, clothing, etc. all at amazing pennies on the dollar type prices. You pay $5 or so to get in, only to find out that most of it is junk, no-name stuff, and miraculously the things mentioned on the radio are gone. It's just a fly by night closeout/buyout reseller that travels to different cities doing the same sales, usually setting up in vacant storefronts or fairground buildings.

[nortonguy]

Regal 20 movie theater will soon undergo major renovations. It's the largest theater in the CSRA and became the first outside metro Atlanta to open a Imax theater back in 2008. Riverwatch Cinemas(2nd largest in CSRA) opened in in North Richmond last year and Regal 20 is expanding nonetheless.

[GRU_Minion]

Originally Posted by nortonguy

Regal 20 movie theater will soon undergo major renovations. It's the largest theater in the CSRA and became the first outside metro Atlanta to open a Imax theater back in 2008.

Ever since the new Riverwatch theater opened, I hadn't been back to Regal 20 because there's no comparison now. Fiance and I got Regal gift cards recently as a gift, so we decided to go use them this past Friday night. It's clear that the new theater has severely impacted their business. At 9PM the parking lot was only half full, at a time when you previously would've had to drive around for 5 minutes to find someone leaving to get a space. One person running the entire ticket booth instead of the more typical three, and only two people working concessions with no line when every register used to be open with a line snaking through the lobby.

Regal needs to meet or exceed the amenities available at the Riverwatch theater, and if only meeting them, beat their pricing by $1-2 per ticket if they want to continue to operate as a non-discount theater. Trying to recall how long their Regal 12 theater lasted after the bigger and better Regal 20 opened. Hopefully they can pull Regal 20 back up with a renovation.

Originally Posted by nortonguy

Riverwatch Cinemas(2nd largest in CSRA) opened in in North Richmond last year and Regal 20 is expanding nonetheless.

Renovation and expansion are two completely different things. I'd put money on them NOT adding any more screens and simply upgrading what's already there. They aren't going to expand when their business is quite visibly down.

[nortonguy]

Regal 12 and Regal 20 were the same company. They decided to build Regal 20 less than a mile away. Not a valid comparison. Regal 20 is located in the Augusta Exchange with a household income over $80,000.

Riverwatch Cinemas impacts the Evans theater, because it's own by the same company.

The Evans theater has yet to receive any upgrade, and Regal 20 will soon renovate and expand.

[tckr83]

I honestly wasn't really that impressed with the new Riverwatch theater... Interior is so dull and undecorative, that the building still looks unfinished. The painted cement block hallways reminded me of my elementary school back in the 80's... My aisle seat had one arm rest that was a foot lower than the other one and apparently that is the design after I questioned some employees about it, really awkward. Seats are nice and recline, the bar is there if you want it but again it looked unfinished in there also as there just wasn't much in there.

To me they tried to capitalize on a couple aspects of the local market that weren't here yet and were available elsewhere... With minimal effort or just enough to say we're a different theater experience. I'll go there when it's convenient, but I'm not going out of my way to go there or anything. Honestly, kind of disappointed with my first trip to Riverwatch Cinemas.

[GRU_Minion]

Originally Posted by nortonguy

Regal 12 and Regal 20 were the same company. They decided to build Regal 20 less than a mile away. Not a valid comparison. Regal 20 is located in the Augusta Exchange with a household income over $80,000.

Riverwatch Cinemas impacts the Evans theater, because it's own by the same company.

The Evans theater has yet to receive any upgrade, and Regal 20 will soon renovate and expand.

It's a perfectly valid comparison. They operated the Regal 12 as a discount theater for a while before it finally folded because folks went to the new one instead and didn't support two theaters. Any time the newest and greatest opens that's what happens. Just look at Augusta Mall and Regency Mall. Your household income comments don't make a bit of difference. It's not the $80,000 income earners that are going to that theater if you have bothered to observe. Newer and better impacts EVERY theater, regardless of who owns it.

"The Evans theater has yet to receive any upgrade, and Regal 20 will soon renovate and expand." LOL You with the rose colored glasses all of a sudden try to look at it in black and white, huh? Let's look at that from a different angle. Whole Foods has yet to receive any upgrade, and say, Earth Fare decides to renovate. So by your logic that means business at Earthfare is booming because they are upgrading and a nearly brand new Whole Foods is not. Ignoring the fact that Earthfare is ACTUALLY renovating just so they can keep up and try and draw more customers back to them. That's what's happening with Regal 20. It has nothing to do with an $80K median income within .75938 miles from or which theater company owns which one.