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Cinema World survived COVID shutdowns with private rentals
» Cinema World has been able to keep its lights on despite the detrimental revenue repercussions due to the pandemic thanks to private theater rentals.
“People really love the fact that they can get out and see a movie,” said owner Dave Fedeli. “It is all positive and they are happy they are able to do something.”
The theater is currently showing the newest Disney movie, “Raya and the Last Dragon.” Although it could be open at 50% capacity and showing movies on all 10 screens, Fedeli said there just aren’t a lot of new movies out right now as Hollywood catches up.
“I don’t have a problem with the capacity, it’s more that there are not many movies being released,” he said. “Tom and Jerry is the first one that has done well for a long time. We
are hoping to open full time in May with a regular schedule.”
The theater, located at 476 John Fitch Highway, recently announced it is extending private rentals until the end of April for both movie screenings and video gaming.
“We started offering gaming parties about a month ago, it has worked out fairly well,” Fedeli said, adding that his son came up with the idea. “Sometimes it is a group of two people, sometimes they might have 20 people. You hook up your Xbox or whatever mechanism and play games on the big screen.”
Fedeli said he was inspired by his friend Chris Daigle, who owns Gardner Cinemas, to offer private rentals. For $75 before 5 p.m. and $100 after 5 p.m. you can have a whole theater to yourself and invite up to 25 people total. Some of the current titles available include “Trolls: World Tour,” “Croods II,” “Wonder Woman: 1984” and classics such as “E.T.” and “Back to the Future.”
While they might book a few rentals during the week or on a Friday evening, the weekends are when the bulk of bookings happens — 25 to 30 bookings each on Saturdays and Sundays.
“It is not what it should be, but it is better than zero,” Fedeli said. “It has worked out alright. It is not making up for everything, but it keeps us out there and gives people the opportunity to get out.”
Of course, the theater had to close its doors last March along with so many other businesses. It reopened in the middle of October last year for private showings.
“We were closed for six or seven months,” Fedeli said. “It went from something to nothing, basically there was no revenue.” Fedeli estimates weekly revenue is 15 to 20% of what it normally is, drastically down from $30,000 per week to around $4,000 to $5,000 weekly.
“It is not even comparable, but it helps to pay insurance and the electric bill,” he said.
Fedeli said Rollstone Bank and Workers Credit Union have assisted him with getting into the Small Business Association Payroll Protection Program and he has applied for Save our Stages funding, the SOS Act, which will help to keep the theater afloat.
“Hopefully we will see some of that in the not-toodistant future,” he said. “It was supposed to be in March but got delayed for another month.”
Fedeli said they tried offering curbside popcorn and concessions pickup that other theaters have had some success with, but it never really took off. He said that besides the fact that “COVID has been a killer,” business has slowed down over the last several years because of Netflix and other streaming services.
Fedeli used to operate some drive-in theaters in the area including Tri-Town Drive-In in Lunenburg, which his father opened in 1955. That theater closed 10 years ago.
Fedeli opened Cinema World in 1996 and has been well received in the community, known for being a budget friendly entertainment option that the whole family can enjoy.
“We needed a movie theater in Fitchburg,” Fedeli said. “I got the permits, opened, and it proved successful.”
Fedeli has many ties to the area. He grew up in Sterling, his wife grew up in Paxton, and they have lived in Sterling for the past 30 years. Fedeli and his brother owned J.J. Stevens, a food distribution company headquartered on Bemis Road in Fitchburg, for almost a decade.
A graduate of Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, Fedeli did two stints of ROTC training the summers between his sophomore and junior and junior and senior years of college before enlisting in the Army. He served for two years and then relocated back to the area.
As a local, small business owner, Fedeli said he is happy to be able to provide the chance for people to escape from reality for a couple hours in a dark theater. He recently hosted some friends for a movie screening at the theater — friends he had not seen in a very long time.
“Hopefully, there is an end in sight,” he said. “People are ready to get out.”
And Fedeli said is grateful for the continued support from his customers — the people who are helping to make it possible for the theater to survive the pandemic.
“We hope to be open full time within the next month or two,” he said. “We will do the best we can under the circumstances. It definitely is encouraging to see that people still want to go out to the movies and they appreciate the fact that they are able to do it.”
To book a private theater rental email cwprivatebookings@gmail.com. For more information call 978345-6700, visit www.cinemaworldtheaters.com or follow Cinema World on Facebook.