Have a Hollywood experience with luxury upgrades at family-owned Gardner Cinema

GARDNER ― Now greater Gardner residents don't have to go far to get maximum comfort during their movie theater experience, as family-owned Gardner Cinema has been renovated to improve the customer experience.

Luxury reclining chairs have replaced the traditional movie theater seats in all eight screening rooms at the 336 Timpany Blvd. cinema. There are now 600 seats that recline with a push of a button and each chair has a personal table with a cup holder so customers can put down their beverage and snacks.

Co-owner of Gardner Cinema Chris Daigle said they have been thinking of investing in reclining chairs to stay competitive with other movie theaters in the area since 2019, but when the COVID-19 pandemic began all of their plans were paused.

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"Once we saw the business starting to pick back up again, we knew we had to upgrade our seating just to stay competitive," he said. "We saw other theaters across the country that upgraded to recliner chairs, and they were doing much better than those who weren't."

Daigle said the co-owners spent a lot of time and several thousands of dollars to finish the renovations. They purchased all of the chairs last summer and chairs arrived later in the year, so the process was long, but they are happy the renovations are complete for their customers to enjoy. On Saturday, Feb. 25 all the recliners were installed and ready for customers.

"This past summer, I and the other owner David traveled to a couple of trade shows across the country and looked at all the manufacturers of reclining seating," he said. "We made the decision based on what we felt was the most comfortable seat and that mix of both comfort, quality, affordability, and availability.

Now that the movie industry releasing films at a more consistent pace, people are inclined to go to the theaters again, Daigle said. The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down film productions but now after two years movies like "Avatar: The Way of Water," "80 For Brady," and "Cocaine Bear "are motivating people to go to back to the movie theaters.

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Ticket prices did go up by a dollar, but the renovations are not fully to blame, Daigle said. With the recent increase of the minimum wage to $15 an hour and the ongoing inflation of goods and services the local theater owners decided to increase ticket prices.

Adult tickets for showtimes before 5 p.m. are $7.50; after 5 p.m. they rise to $10. Children's tickets are $7.50 for any showtime. On Tuesdays the theater has a $7 special for all showtimes and movies.

"We have a very loyal customer base and they have supported us through the pandemic," he said. "We're obviously an independent family-owned movie theater and we take pride in it."

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Gardner Cinema renovations: Luxury reclining seats for movie fun