Loews opens curtain on six multiplex sites
Loews, which claims to be the largest multiplex operator in the world, joins a host of companies working to develop the concept here. About nine groups are planning more than 50 multiplexes in the next few years.
Kristof Jacunski, international development manager for Loews, confirmed that the group is coming to Poland, but would not disclose any further details. Jacunski is leaving Loews this year to work for U.K.-based Chelverton Properties as general manager in Poland.
Sources close to the company, however, said that Loews is looking at two shopping malls as possible sites. One of them is Steen & Strom's mall in the Warsaw district of Targowek, and the other is eight kilometers south of Krakow, sources said.
Cinema operators already present here were hardly surprised that Loews decided to move into this market. "I've heard that they are interested, just like everyone else in the world," said Vinny Frost, managing director of Portico Development.
Portico and its partner, Silver Screen World Cinemas, are in the midst of building one cinema in the port town of Gdynia and hopes to have 10 theaters across the country. Another developer is Multikino, a 50-50 joint venture between media-holding ITI and the UK-based cinema operator United Cinema International, which said it will invest $225 million putting up 15 multiplexes by 2002.
"I stopped counting (the number of new entrants)," said Aldona Szostakowska, managing director of Multikino.
Multikino opened its first multiplex theater - the first multiplex in Poland, many say - in Poznan earlier this summer.
The list of other entrants includes Hoyts Cinemas from Australia, which has two sites. One of those is in lodz in a complex being built by Echo Investment, and the other will be in the Warsaw district of Sadyba, at a mall developed by the Pol Nordic Group. Hoyts last summer announced that it intends to build 10 cinemas here.
To top it off, South Africa's Ster-Kinekor said it would build 10 theaters. Kinomax, which is owned by local and Austrian investors, is constructing the five-screen Europlex complex in Warsaw. And lastly, France's Pathe, the U.S.' Village Warner and Israeli Cinema are rumored to be looking for sites here.
"Time will show who is serious," said Szostakowska of Multikino.
Multikino is also building two more multiplexes in Warsaw and one more location in Krakow. "Searching for locations is a very hard process," she said. "Our competitors have a lot to do."
If Loews does enter the market, it could be a serious player here, multiplex operators said. The U.S.-Canadian company claims to be the largest cinema operator in the world with 2,900 screens, most of which are in North America.
Poland would be the next step in Loews' European expansion effort; the company already has a joint-venture in Spain and is also negotiating deals in other countries.
"They are a good company, if they enter it will be a strong competition for us," said Frost of Portico. "If they come in with good locations, we should be concerned."
Location means everything, though. If the multiplexes developed are well-placed, they could attract as many as 1 million viewers a year, operators said. But chains that choose badly may see much smaller audiences than they anticipated, which could force smaller chains to sell out to larger players.
"There's no room for nine multiplex operators here," a source with a multiplex company said.
New entrants rushing to pick sites can easily make mistakes, Frost said. He said that the hypermart location targeted by Loews, which is eight kilometers south of Krakow on the way to Zakopane, is poised for failure.
"We passed on this location," he said. "That is not a good location, there is no population around."
Kristof Jacunski, international development manager for Loews, confirmed that the group is coming to Poland, but would not disclose any further details. Jacunski is leaving Loews this year to work for U.K.-based Chelverton Properties as general manager in Poland.
Sources close to the company, however, said that Loews is looking at two shopping malls as possible sites. One of them is Steen & Strom's mall in the Warsaw district of Targowek, and the other is eight kilometers south of Krakow, sources said.
Cinema operators already present here were hardly surprised that Loews decided to move into this market. "I've heard that they are interested, just like everyone else in the world," said Vinny Frost, managing director of Portico Development.
Portico and its partner, Silver Screen World Cinemas, are in the midst of building one cinema in the port town of Gdynia and hopes to have 10 theaters across the country. Another developer is Multikino, a 50-50 joint venture between media-holding ITI and the UK-based cinema operator United Cinema International, which said it will invest $225 million putting up 15 multiplexes by 2002.
"I stopped counting (the number of new entrants)," said Aldona Szostakowska, managing director of Multikino.
Multikino opened its first multiplex theater - the first multiplex in Poland, many say - in Poznan earlier this summer.
The list of other entrants includes Hoyts Cinemas from Australia, which has two sites. One of those is in lodz in a complex being built by Echo Investment, and the other will be in the Warsaw district of Sadyba, at a mall developed by the Pol Nordic Group. Hoyts last summer announced that it intends to build 10 cinemas here.
To top it off, South Africa's Ster-Kinekor said it would build 10 theaters. Kinomax, which is owned by local and Austrian investors, is constructing the five-screen Europlex complex in Warsaw. And lastly, France's Pathe, the U.S.' Village Warner and Israeli Cinema are rumored to be looking for sites here.
"Time will show who is serious," said Szostakowska of Multikino.
Multikino is also building two more multiplexes in Warsaw and one more location in Krakow. "Searching for locations is a very hard process," she said. "Our competitors have a lot to do."
If Loews does enter the market, it could be a serious player here, multiplex operators said. The U.S.-Canadian company claims to be the largest cinema operator in the world with 2,900 screens, most of which are in North America.
Poland would be the next step in Loews' European expansion effort; the company already has a joint-venture in Spain and is also negotiating deals in other countries.
"They are a good company, if they enter it will be a strong competition for us," said Frost of Portico. "If they come in with good locations, we should be concerned."
Location means everything, though. If the multiplexes developed are well-placed, they could attract as many as 1 million viewers a year, operators said. But chains that choose badly may see much smaller audiences than they anticipated, which could force smaller chains to sell out to larger players.
"There's no room for nine multiplex operators here," a source with a multiplex company said.
New entrants rushing to pick sites can easily make mistakes, Frost said. He said that the hypermart location targeted by Loews, which is eight kilometers south of Krakow on the way to Zakopane, is poised for failure.
"We passed on this location," he said. "That is not a good location, there is no population around."
