Clintonia Eagle Theater asks for communities' input as sales take a dip

CLINTON, Ill. (WAND) - Like many small businesses, the Clintonia Eagle Theater is attempting to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase of streaming services, inflation and the change in the movie-going culture have also impacted business.

Nationwide, bigger companies like AMC and Regal have been able to refinance to adjust to the change of the movie-going culture. However, for small-locally owned theaters, it's more of a challenge.

Eric Gubelman, CEO of Eagle Theaters, says they're now facing the final hurdle and is asking for the communities' input in an online survey.

"We're hoping to measure intensity of community support. Number one, how vital is having a local movie theater to the community? And number two, here are some of the things that we think are vital to our survival. Are you up for them or not?"

The survey focuses on the theater's subscription specials and various deals. To see if these will help increase the number of admissions.

"We're really trying to find out what people think of our source subscription, which is a one movie a month club that offers a number of additional benefits, including concession discounts, double rewards points, no online ticketing fees and lots of special goodies."

Gubelman adds, while the theater is not shutting down, they're trying to see what can be done before it gets to that point.

"If we're suffering, small towns are suffering. This last four years has been absolutely horrible, and we've got to do something different if we're going to survive. we are focusing on just a couple of simple questions," he said.

You can fill out the survey here. To find more information about the Clintonia Theater, visit their Facebook page here.