BTM Cinemas (formerly known as Bow Tie Cinemas) is an American movie theater chain, with eight locations in Colorado, New York, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.[1][2] It is the oldest surviving movie exhibition company in the United States, having been founded in 1900.[3] As of 2013, it was the eighth-largest movie theater chain in the United States, when it operated 63 multiplexes across the East Coast states. Since then, many former locations have been sold to AMC or other competitors, with only eight venues remaining as of September 2024.
 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment (movie theaters) |
| Founded | 1900, New York City |
| Headquarters | Ridgefield, Connecticut |
Key people | B.S. Moss, Founder Ben Moss Charles B. Moss, Jr. Joseph Masher (COO) |
| Website | www |
BTM Cinemas has been family-owned for four generations. The company was established by Benjamin S. Moss (1878–1951) who opened nickelodeon venues, then shifted to Vaudeville venues, before settling on movie theaters.
History
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B.S. Moss immigrated to the U.S. from Austria in 1900. He opened venues for nickelodeons. He soon changed to operating venues for the Vaudeville circuit and also established a film production company. The film production company produced Margaret Sanger's film Birth Control which was banned from release in New York in 1915. B. S. Moss Motion Picture Company presented Three Weeks (1914) and produced One Day (1916), Boots and Saddles (1916), The Power of Evil (1916), and The Salamander (1916).
B. S. Moss Enterprises operated several movie theaters.[4] In 1910, Moss organized the syndicate that built the $100,000 Washington Theatre at Amsterdam Avenue and 149th Street, known as the first "real" movie palace in New York City.[5] Moss' Vaudeville theaters included Manhattan's Colony Theater, notable for being the venue of several high-profile Disney premieres including Fantasia and Steamboat Willie, the third Disney cartoon to feature Mickey Mouse, but the first to be released.
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In the 1930s, Moss decided to focus more on the movie business and phased out his vaudeville program. In 1936, he opened his Criterion Theater in Times Square, which lasted as a successful movie theater until 2000. Since then, Bow Tie Cinemas has continued to concentrate on the presentation of films.[6]
Bow Tie Cinemas
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The company changed its name to Bow Tie Cinemas in 2004, upon opening its Criterion Cinemas complex in Downtown New Haven, Connecticut. The name honors the company's flagship property, located where Broadway and 45th meet in Manhattan, known as the "Bow Tie" of Times Square.
In 2013, Bow Tie Cinemas acquired 41 theatres from Clearview Cinemas a movie theater chain within the New York metropolitan area founded in 1994. From 1998 to 2013, Clearview was a subsidiary of Cablevision.[7] Ownership of Clearview's 42nd location, the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City, was retained by Cablevision, but Bow Tie assumed operations of the theater until it closed in 2016.[3]
In 2017, the company debuted its new "Ultimate" locations in Norwalk, CT, featuring luxury electric recliner seating with an in-theater restaurant and a full bar. Bow Tie Ultimate(TM) locations feature fresh-baked artisan pizzas, and an array of dining options. At its peak, Bow Tie operated Ultimate locations in Norwalk, CT (Ultimate Royale 6 and Ultimate Regent 8); Trumbull, CT (Ultimate Marquis 16 & BTX); and Annapolis, MD (Ultimate Annapolis Mall 11 & BTX) and Stamford, CT (Ultimate Majestic 6 & BTX).
In 2022, seven Bow Tie theaters in Connecticut, upstate New York, and Annapolis, Maryland, were sold to AMC Entertainment. Bow Tie would also discontinue the Ultimate and BTX concepts as part of this deal. Most BTX theaters eventually ended up getting converted into PRIME or Dolby Cinema theaters.[8] They had previously closed three theaters, one each in Greenwich, New Canaan, and Wilton, Connecticut.
On September 30, 2023, Bow Tie announced their Criterion Cinemas location in New Haven would close on October 12, 2023. It was the last Bow Tie Cinemas left in Connecticut.[9]
BTM Cinemas
editIn October 2023, the company announced it would be retiring the Bow Tie Cinemas brand and would be rebranding the remaining 7 theaters as BTM Cinemas, which would become the movie theater division of Scene One Entertainment. BTM stands for "Big Time Movies."[10]
In January 2024, it was announced that the last Bow Tie Cinemas location in New Jersey, the Warner Theater, would be permanently closing after 92 years in operation. Their last day of operation was on January 28, 2024. Bow Tie is considering options for possible redevelopment of the space. This was the last theater under the Bow Tie Cinemas brand, retiring the name after 20 years.[11]
References
edit- ^ "Bow Tie Cinemas".
- ^ "Theaters - BTM Cinemas".
- ^ a b "Bow Tie Cinema to buy theaters from Cablevision Systems". Newsday. Bloomberg News. April 29, 2013. Archived from the original on May 3, 2013.
- ^ "Movie Theaters Previously Operated by B.S. Moss Enterprises". Cinema Treasures.
- ^ New York Times Obituary
- ^ "About Bow-Tie Cinemas." Bow Tie Cinemas. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Aug. 2014.
- ^ Stein, Linda (May 17, 2013). "Bow Tie Cinemas new owners of Anthony Wayne, Bala theaters". Mainline Media News.
- ^ "AMC Acquires Seven Former Bow Tie Cinemas Locations". Boxoffice Pro. April 13, 2022.
- ^ Zaretsky, Mark (September 30, 2023). "After 19 years of screening films on Temple Street in downtown New Haven, Criterion Cinemas to close". New Haven Register. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
- ^ "Bow Tie Management rebrands as Scene One Entertainment". Medium: Relentless Awareness. November 3, 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- ^ Blancaflor, Saleah (January 22, 2024). "Historic New Jersey theater to close after 92 years". NJ.com. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
