Century complex conflict

Merchants and restaurateurs in downtown Redwood City can't understand why it's still open.

[John]

The elected leaders of Redwood City let the people down. Why wasn't the closure of the old movie house put into writing by your city leaders in the deal they made. Basic business practice!! The city manager and the rest of the "leaders" were duped by the movie house owners!! You voted these clowns into office -now vote them out!

[Pete-o]

How about just boycotting the new site?

[Jack Kirkpatick]

Stufy: don't let RWC bully you. Stay right where you are!

"The Syufy family, which leases the land east of Highway 101 to Century's parent company Cinemark, has stubbornly stuck to its desire to build housing there" are making the right business decision. Trying to remove them politically is costly and will not help downtown. Our elected officials and the public know that the downtown movie house will not be profitable.

I predict that the theater will be converted into apaartments or condos. Should a few subsidized housing units be set aside? No. that won't help either - no discretionary income among the poor to help local downtown businesses!

The downtown RWC theater is a loss: high price tickets and concessions. Live theater and the newer, updated restaurants will draw some people, but not many. It is either the restaurant or the theater because there is only so much discretionary income and that usually goes for food and other amenities. Besides nexflex is cheaper and an open parking lot at theaters are preferable. A short drive up and down the peninsula works while out on other errands.

Stufy's should build fair market rate housing and if they have to make some concessions for a few subsidized units, I'd wait and keep the theater open to generate some revenue that probably is not creating a loss.

[Albert Franklin]

If City of Redwood City knew how to treat business, then those that left in the '50's and '60's wouldn't have ever gone away.

Then again, wasn't it all over parking meters, and the City's theft of property from homeowners
on Middlefield Road?

They should have applied that money to reduced ticket sales in the downtown theater. Instead, they set back wishing the affair would just simply go away?

If they were really smart, they taped Jim Smith explaining how thos city government really worked with business theories in calculus!

[neoretro]

Boycott the Century 12 and tell your friends and neighbors to do the same. The only thing they will respond to is $$$.

[Pete-o]

neoretro wrote:

Boycott the Century 12 and tell your friends and neighbors to do the same. The only thing they will respond to is $$$.

I think that's the way, I haven't gone back to it yet and will not.

[RWC Girl]

Why would people stop going to century 12. Its FREE parking and not conjested with traffic and a bunch of people. Yeah its a bit outdated and could use major renovations inside but hey i still go there to not deal with all the cars and crowds in downtown redwood city. downtown is just to small now with all the new things they did.

[Rachel RWC]

Boycott Century 12!! The loss in revenue is the only thing the Syufys will understand. If the theatre isn't profitable, they will be inclined to do a deal.

The Syufys are bad news. Let's hit them where they live: in the wallet.

Boycott Century 12!

[BobLoblaw]

Syufy should raze the theater complex and bring back the drive-in that used to be there!

[Nihilistic or Pragmatic]

Large businesses with many units often work at a small loss -- business write offs, like personal write offs, have monetary advantages and branding and image can be beneficial. People going to Stufy Theaters are not invested in RWC; they come from surrounding cities and that is why a boycott will not work. You could change the name of the theater and it wouldn't lose a beat in customers.

Remember, you rarely buy "American" made products and I don't see you are boycotting Chinese, Latin American, Eastern European... products. You vote your pocketbook. Also, if you don't buy foreign products, you may not have a market for American products in their countries.

So what is the trade off -- the most or best product for the bucks you have or are you willing to borrow to purchase? Is this a senseless, desirable destruction of our economy? If it is, it is nihilistic? Some of us would parse our purchase as just pragmatic....

[Pete-o]

BobLoblaw wrote:

Syufy should raze the theater complex and bring back the drive-in that used to be there!

I think that actually would be cool,
By the way BobLoblaw I haven't seen any posts to your law web blog lately. when should I visit BobLobLaw's Law WebBlog for a new post?
AD best show ever!

[Passion Pit]

And you think you have crime and gang problems now...? Just try a drive-in movie or a Mel's Drive-in! The days of the passion pit are over as a local venue and the police would go bonkers!

[RWC Boy]

RWC Girl wrote:

Why would people stop going to century 12. Its FREE parking and not conjested with traffic and a bunch of people. Yeah its a bit outdated and could use major renovations inside but hey i still go there to not deal with all the cars and crowds in downtown redwood city. downtown is just to small now with all the new things they did.

I agree RWC girl. It did not help that some foolish council person - on the week that the so called new theater opened - said - I can't wait until we dynamite that site!! Bayshore.

We used to all have theaters like the new one...and then they built the 557 Bayshore type...and we all got use to the so called new version...now they've gone back to the one they decided on. San Mateo's governing body is no different.
They had the San mateo theater - the manor - the BelMateo - close by - the Millbrae and then closer the Hyatt Cinema. How quickly they forget.
The type of clientelle surrounding that area of B street is creepy.

All of us should support the Bayshore Cinema. Besides that the parking abomination that they say they have corrected - remains to be seen. Try standing behind a sidewalk caddy with some yuppie mom in front of you that is allowing her 4 yr old to learn how to use the machine.

Creepers - the front of the machine is so graphically busy ~~
Can't all of us imagine the smoke and mirrors demonstration that the company who makes that machine - gave to our city decision makers....they must have signed immediately on the dotted line.

Let us also not forget that the new site is where the body builder who went into toxic shock was manhandled by first the rent-a-security-police -who were the first to mis-diagnos the situation and then they called for backups.

Has anyone seen the security fixture - tall - outofshape big blonde dude - who sits in a car outside and often doubles as a referee in a lower garage dispute.

RWC Boy