B&B Theatres brings movie going experience to Wentzville
Jason Wiese | Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015
Going to the cinema is a global pastime, but for years the community of Wentzville, Missouri, was forced to travel further within St. Charles County to enjoy the latest films on the big screen. That was until Oct. 31, when local movie lovers’ prayers were answered in the form of the latest addition to the B&B Theatres chain.
B&B’s new 12-screen Wentzville location, at the recently developed Wentzville Bluffs off of South Highway Z, is one of 50 in nine states with, as general manager David Houf estimates, about 30 in Missouri alone.
Founded in 1980 by the Bills and Bagby families, whose names represent the initials of the company title, B&B is the ninth largest movie theater chain in the United States. Even with the dominant St. Charles County presence of chains such as Wehrenberg, AMC or Regal Entertainment Group, which is the country’s largest chain, the 40-plus employee staff of the Wentzville Tower 12, after more than a month in business, is not intimidated.
“With this location coming in, I know that this location has put things over the top a little bit,” said assistant manager Christina Koffkey, who began working for B&B when the new theater opened in October, “just because of the difference that we have with having the bar and then with having our recliner seats. So, this location particularly has done very well compared to the theaters around us… because of the fact that most of their theaters have the reclining seats and things like that that they’re trying to make them all the standard. So compared to other theaters, I think that [B&B does] rank higher than some.”
In every one of its 12 auditoriums, the Wentzville Tower 12 is filled with custom reclining seats clad in leather. Two auditoriums include B&B’s signature Grand Screen.
“Our Grand Screen is the largest screen we have,” said Koffkey, who enjoys the Marvel film franchise and is a lifelong fan of Disney. “It’s six stories wide by three stories high and it’s wall to wall, so it’s very massive… They compare it to being bigger than a humpback whale.”
The Grand Screens, which also include 360 degree surround sound, tend to sell out often for evening showings. Lately, its best selling screenings have been B&B’s Retro Nights, on which the theater brings a nostalgic touch to its movie choices, showing cinema classics on Thursday nights for $5. This month, the Retro Nights have been veering from their usual schedule to show holiday classics such as “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”, “Home Alone” and “A Christmas Story” this upcoming weekend. All showings sold out in advance. Retro Nights are scheduled to return to a weekly basis in January, starting with a showing of the 1985 family adventure, “The Goonies”.
The Grand Screens are also open to activities other than movie going. B&B hosts special events, such as birthday parties or corporate factions, in which companies or families can rent out an auditorium for a day.
“If companies want to do a presentation, they could do that. They could rent out the space,” said Koffkey. “I do a side business and they rent out theaters to do certain seminars, training, things like that. So, this would be a good location for things like that… If they wanted to include a movie with that at the end, then they could tie that into it as well.”
The chain also offers Marquee Suites, which are available at two locations in Ozark, Missouri and Wylie, Texas. The Suites include the typical reserved seating with leather recliners, as well as a full bar and menu that can be brought right to a customer’s seat within the auditorium.
Marquee Suites are not a featured amenity at the Wentzville Tower 12, but it does include a bar in the main lobby and customers 21 and over are welcome to bring any food and drinks bought there into the auditoriums.
By providing the Wentzville community with a moviegoing experience without making the stretch to locations such as Wehrenberg in Dardenne Prairie or the Regal Cinema in O’Fallon, Houf says that the Wentzville Tower 12 is a proud moment for B&B Theatres.
“I’m not from the community myself, but judging from people talking about it when they come in to see the movies, they’re excited to have us,” said David Houf, who has worked for B&B since he took at cashier position at 16 years-old in Springfield, Illinois, and cites George A. Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead” as his favorite film. “They’ve been saying that it’s been a long time coming… The community’s happy about it. The company’s happy about it. Everybody’s very happy.”
