The Marcus Corporation is an American

publicly held company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company operates two principal divisions: Marcus Theatres and Marcus Hotels and Resorts.

History

Marcus Corporation was founded on November 1, 1935 by Ben Marcus with the purchase of a single movie theatre screen in

Ripon, Wisconsin Ripon () is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,863 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is surrounded by the Ripon (town), Wisconsin, Town of Ripon. Ripon is home to the Little White S ...

. This movie theatre remains with Marcus as a first run theater, the Campus Cinema (near Ripon College), with titles appealing to both adults and families. It was also a restaurant franchisee, operating the Marc's Big Boy affiliate of the

Big Boy Restaurants Big Boy is an American casual dining restaurant chain store, chain headquartered in Southfield, Michigan; it is currently operated in most of the United States by Big Boy Restaurant Group, LLC. The Big Boy name, design aesthetic, and menu were ...

chain and serving as the Milwaukee area franchise for

Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's s ...

. Marcus sold the KFC franchises by 1992 and closed the last Marc's in 1995. One of the company's principal assets, Baymont Inn & Suites, was sold to La Quinta Corporation in 2003. Marcus Cable, which merged in 1998 with Charter Communications, was founded by a member of the Marcus family, but held no direct corporate connection to Marcus Corporation itself.

Marcus Theatres

Marcus Theatres is an American movie theater chain that owns and/or manages screens and has food service. As of September 30, 2023, Marcus Theatres has 79 theaters and 993 screens in 17 U.S. states. In 2000, the chain partnered with MovieTickets.com for advanced ticketing capabilities. This partnership was extended in 2011. In 2008, Marcus acquired seven theater locations in Nebraska from Douglas Theatre Company. In August 2013, Rolando B. Rodriguez was appointed as president and chief executive officer of Marcus Theatres. After Rodriguez took over, the company introduced two new initiatives in October 2013: $5 admission for any movie on Tuesdays at select theaters and an alternative programming block known as "Theatre Entertainment Network. In January 2014, Marcus launched an initiative called "Indie Focus" that offers

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

and

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

s in select locations. The chain began a partnership with

Fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating in Portugal and Spain, usually in triple metre, triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, tambourine or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is u ...

in fall 2015, making Fandango its preferred ticketing partner. In December 2016, the chain completed its acquisition of 14 theaters owned by Wehrenberg Theatres in four states. Marcus closed all Marcus Cinemas and Movie Tavern theaters after 8:30 p.m. showtimes on March 17, 2020 indefinitely, due to the

impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative effect on certain 2020s in film, films in the early 2020s, mirroring its Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage, impacts across all arts sectors. Across the world, and to varying deg ...

and following the closures of competitors. Marcus Theaters chairman, president and CEO Rolando Rodriguez pledged full cooperation with the Center for Disease Control (CDC). The chain began a slow-process reopening in late June 2020 with several theaters, before a wider reopening started rolling out on August 21, 2020 to take advantage of the wide release for '' Tenet''. With that film underperforming and new product being held back as another case surge in Wisconsin happened, Marcus began to re-close some theaters and reduce others to weekend and Tuesday operations only by the start of October. It also later pushed the redemption period for refills of its annual low-cost 'unlimited refills' 2020 reusable popcorn bucket for the entirety of 2021.

Movie Tavern

The first Movie Tavern location opened in 2001 in Fort Worth, Texas by Dennis Butler. Movie Tavern was sold to Southern Theatres in 2013. Movie Tavern has become one of the largest and fastest-growing in-theatre dining concepts in the United States thanks to its praised menu and unique offerings. In November 2018, Marcus Theaters acquired

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

-based movie theater chain to expand into Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. The acquisition was valued at $126 million sold in cash and stock, (NYSE: MCS). The deal closed in February 2019. The deal added 22 locations and 208 screens, increasing Marcus Theaters locations to 90 theaters in 17 states, representing a 23% increase in Marcus Theatres' total screen count.

Marcus Hotels and Resorts

Marcus Hotels and Resorts, currently owns or manages 17

hotels A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a refr ...

and resorts in California, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin, as well as one vacation club in Wisconsin.

References

External links