The Austin-based movie theater chain announces it’s entered bankruptcy proceedings mere hours after defiant tweet concerning public-health measures.
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Austin-based dine-in movie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse has had a very busy 12 hours. Last night, in response to Texas Governor Greg Abbott announcing that “EVERYTHING” in his state is “OPEN 100%” Alamo tweeted that it would still be enforcing social distancing, mask requirements and other mitigation measures at all its locations. The declaration went viral, which is good news for Alamo, who have suffered a tremendous hit to their business amid pandemic-related closures and endured some bad PR after employees went public with frustrations over furloughs.
To that end, Variety reported just this morning that Alamo has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of a larger asset-reshuffling with various investment partners and backers. Per Variety, Alamo “will close down a few underperforming locations and restructure its lease obligations,” but otherwise operations will proceed as normal, allowing for variance in state-reopening directives.
Related: Alamo Drafthouse Strikes Gold by Redefining the Cinema Experience
As for that viral tweet, it didn’t refer directly to Abbott or his missive, but the choice to literally underscore that they are “only” following CDC and medical experts’ guidance and stress that “the health of our teams and guests remains our company’s top priority” effectively punctuated their position vis a vis the governor.
We will keep you posted if there’s an escalation in their virtual war of words.