Harkins Theatres

Infobox Company
company_name = Harkins Theatres Entertainment, Ltd.
company_
company_type = Private
foundation = 1933
founder = Dwight "Red" Harkins
location = Scottsdale, AZ
key_people = Daniel Harkins, Owner and CEO Mike Bowers, President

area_served = Southwestern United States
industry = Entertainment (movie theaters)
num_employees = 2,100 (as of August 2006)
parent = Harkins Enterprises, LLC
owner = Daniel Harkins
company_slogan = Ultimate moviegoing
homepage = [http://www.harkinstheatres.com/ http://www.harkinstheatres.com]

Harkins Theatres is a movie theater chain with locations throughout the Southwestern United States. Harkins Theatres is privately owned and operated by its parent company, Harkins Enterprises, LLC. The company currently operates theaters at 26 locations throughout Arizona, in addition to locations in California, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas.

History

In The Beginning- Dwight (Red) Harkins

In 1931, at the age of sixteen, Dwight Harkins left Cincinnati, Ohio, on his Harley Davidson motorcycle for Hollywood. Dwight planned to pursue a role in one of the new "talkies." By the time he arrived in Tempe, Arizona, he could no longer afford to continue his quest. After several years in Tempe, he sought out a new career dream operating a grand movie-house. In 1933, he opened the State Theatre in Tempe. It is speculated that at the time, he was the youngest movie theater operator in the worldfact|date=September 2008.

Expansion and innovation

In 1940, Harkins opened the College Theatre (currently Harkins Valley Art). The theater contained new innovations such as glow-in-the-dark carpet, headphones for the hearing impaired, and automatic drinking fountains.

In 1948 Dwight Harkins opened the Saguaro Theater.

The last theatre opened by Dwight was the Camelview Theatre in 1973.

Over the years, Dwight Harkins became a respected community leaderfact|date=September 2008. He experimented with the latest technology, and in the 1950s, he helped change the broadcasting industry by developing a type of FM multiplex radio. Later, he helped launch the first radio station capable of transmitting multitrack sound.

Harkins continues to innovate by constantly updating its theaters with the most up to date projection and sound equipment. In 1997, Harkins Superstition Springs 25 was the first theater in Arizona to obtain THX Certification in all 25 auditoriums. In addition, all theaters currently have a digital pre-show system powered by Kodak. In 2005 and 2006, several Disney DLP projectors were installed at Arizona Mills 24, Arrowhead Fountains 18, and the Moreno Valley 16, and a new Harkins opened up near Casa Grande in November, 2007.

Harkins Theatres also offers a unique type of daycare at several of its theaters. The Harkins Playcenters are staffed by daycare professionals and offer a place to drop of young children during a movie for the price of a regular ticket. They offer movies, play equipment, activities, and video games.

In concession, Harkins is one of the few theater chainsfact|date=September 2008 to offer fried foods such as pizza, french fries, and cheese sticks to accompany the regular popcorn.

Dan Harkins

In 1974, Dwight Harkins died, leaving the company to his eldest son, Dan Harkins. At that time, the company was near bankruptcy. After reworking the company, Dan extensively expanded the theatre chain from five locations in the Phoenix area to the current 30 locations in 5 states - Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Arizona and Southern California.

Today, Harkins operates almost 400 screens.

Acquisitions

In the late 1980s, Harkins acquired several theatres operated by Mann Theatres.

In 1988, Harkins re-opened the Cine Capri theatre in Phoenix. The original Cine Capri had the largest screen in Arizona, measuring more than convert|70|ft|m long. The theater could not escape the nearby growth, however. Despite over 200,000 signatures in an effort to save the theatre led primarily by KTAR's Pat Mcmahon, the theater was demolished in 1997. Dan Harkins stated that the theater would be rebuilt. In 2003, the new version of the Cine Capri theatre opened at the Scottsdale 101 14 multiplex. Due to the popularity of the Cine Capri, Harkins also built a Cine Capri Theater at its Bricktown 16, Northfield 18, and Southlake Town Center 14 locations. Harkins has now opened up a second Cine Capri in the Phoenix area at the newly opened Tempe Marketplace 16 in Tempe Arizona.

Expansion into other states

In 2004, Harkins Theatres opened its first theatre outside of Arizona in Oklahoma City. The success of the theatre led to expansion into Colorado, Texas, and California in 2006.

Foreign art and film program

The Harkins Art Film Society brings unique films to the theatre chain. Harkins Valley Art and Harkins Camelview 5 are dedicated to foreign and independent films. Also, Harkins hosts the Phoenix Film Festival each year at the Scottsdale 101 Cine Capri location and the deadCenter Film Festival at the Oklahoma City Bricktown 16 location.

Loyalty Program

Harkins Theatres sells souvenir cups and logo t-shirts each year with a different movie-related theme. If customers purchase the cup, they can bring it back to receive $1.00 refills for the year. If they wear the shirt, they receive a free medium sized popcorn during each visit throughout the year as well. A percentage of the profits go to the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.

At the moment, Harkins Theatres does not offer any type of frequent movie watcher program.

Trivia

Before the opening of each new theatre, Dan Harkins and his family have a handprint dedication ceremony similar to that at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. He then proceeds to purchase the very first ticket.

A premiere of The Bourne Ultimatum was held in downtown Oklahoma City on July 31, 2007, at the Harkins Theatres Bricktown 16 [cite web | url=http://newsok.com/article/3083167/?print=0 | title=The Bourne Ultimatum Oklahoma City Premiere | publisher=The Oklahoman | accessdate=2007-07-14] to benefit "The Children's Center", located in suburban Bethany. The film was shown simultaneously on three screens. Star Matt Damon was at the event to greet guests.

References

External links

* [http://www.harkinstheatres.com/ Harkins Theatres]
* [http://www.harkinstheatres.com/redharkins.asp/ More on Dwight (Red) Harkins]

"More on Dwight Harkins:" [http://www.harkinstheatres.com/redharkins.asp]