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Cobb Theatres was an American cinema chain based in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
. The company was established in 1921, in
Fayette, Alabama Fayette is a city and the county seat of Fayette County, Alabama, United States. The population was 4,619 at the 2010 census, down from 4,922 at the 2000 census. History Originally known as "La Fayette", it incorporated on January 15, 1821. W ...
, expanding through the South starting in the late 1940s, and buying out
General Cinema General Cinema Corporation, also known as General Cinema, GCC, or General Cinema Theatres, was a chain of movie theaters in the United States. At its peak, the company operated about 1,500 screens, some of which were among the first cinemas certi ...
's West Central Florida theatres and Wometco Theatres in the 1990s before being bought by
Regal Cinemas Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens i ...
in 1997 and revived in 2001. Cobb operated 25 locations, the majority of which were located in Florida, with others in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina, and Virginia.


History

In 1921, Jefferson A. Richards opened his family's first movie theatre in Fayette, Alabama. Lucille Richards Cobb purchased the theatre from Jefferson in 1934. In 1947, Rowland C. Cobb bought Lucille's two theatres and started building indoor and drive-in theatres throughout northern Alabama. Notable theatres opened by Cobb included the Thunderbird Drive-In in Atlanta (the South's largest and most modern drive-in theatre) in 1963, the United States' first four-plex theatre in 1971, Cinema City 8 at Birmingham's Roebuck Shopping Center (the largest eight-plex theatre in the US) in 1978, and Sawgrass 18 (promoted as the largest theatre east of the Rocky Mountains) in 1991. Cobb operated 27 theatres by 1965. The following year, Cobb purchased eight theatres in Birmingham, Alabama and moved the company's offices to Birmingham. Cobb Theatres expanded into South Florida by purchasing
General Cinema General Cinema Corporation, also known as General Cinema, GCC, or General Cinema Theatres, was a chain of movie theaters in the United States. At its peak, the company operated about 1,500 screens, some of which were among the first cinemas certi ...
's theatres in West Central Florida in 1992 and Wometco Theatres in 1994 (forming Cobb Theatres II following the Wometco acquisition), bringing Cobb's screen total to 315. Robert M. Cobb succeeded Rowland as the company's CEO on December 1, 1995. On June 11, 1997, it was announced that
Regal Cinemas Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens i ...
would acquire Cobb Theatres, which had 643 screens at 67 theatres, for $200 million plus $100 million in debt; Regal completed the acquisition on July 31. Robert M. Cobb decided to re-enter the cinema industry by forming Cobb Theatres III in 2000. Cobb opened the Dolphin 19 theatre in Miami, Florida on May 25, 2001, attracting 1.4 million visitors. Cobb grew to 11 theatres with 166 screens by 2006. In 2008, Cobb introduced CinéBistro, an elevated premium dinner-and-a-movie concept, in Miami and Tampa. Cobb expanded into Colorado, Virginia and Georgia by 2011, growing to 21 theatres with 253 screens. In October 2017, Cobb Theatres was acquired by Mexican cinema chain
Cinemex Cinemex is a Mexican chain of cinemas. It operates multiplexes in cities such as Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Toluca, Cd. Juarez, Leon, Tijuana, Mexicali, Puebla and other Mexican cities. In 2015, Cinemex began to expand into the United ...
; its locations were brought under its U.S. banner CMX.


See also

* Death of Chad Oulson


References

{{Major USA Cinema Chains Companies based in Birmingham, Alabama Economy of the Southeastern United States Former cinemas in the United States Movie theatre chains in the United States Wometco Enterprises Regal Entertainment Group American companies established in 1921 American companies disestablished in 1997 American companies disestablished in 2017