Waterloo's Princess Cinemas forced to pivot again as region enters 'red zone'

The Princess Cinemas in Waterloo will rely on its experience with the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic to navigate the coming weeks with the region now into the 'red zone' of the province's framework. 

The theatre's owner, John Tutt, said like a lot of businesses, Princess Cinemas will "be pivoting through this" period.

"One of the pivots that we did back in the initial lockdown was we had curbside popcorn [and] we called it the Princess popcorn pickup and we operated that three or four days of the week to pretty good success," Tutt told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo. 

"It kept our customers interested, coming into the lobby, picking up items, pre-ordering items at the snack bar. 

"This time it will be a little bit better because we've got a lot more [merchandise] that we got together than we did the first time … so that's gonna help us through it," Tutt added.

'Bubble screenings'

Meanwhile, Tutt said in addition to being a cinema, his business is also "an event space" and based on the provincial guidelines, Princess Cinemas can offer private screenings. 

"We call them our bubble screenings to no more than 10 people," Tutt said. "We have several of those pre-booked already. There's quite an interest in those."

Like many other business operators, Tutt said the pandemic has taken a toll and his day-to-day functions as a business manager have also changed.

"I've gone from someone who seeks out unique movies and books movies and promotes movies and tries to build an audience in my cinemas to somebody that is making sure I make all the deadlines for government assistance or PPE grants, wage subsidy programs," Tutt said. 

"So if you look at my desk now where I work, I've got all these folders and date deadlines and everything on my chart. So that's kind of how it's changed. Those are just trying to stay in business issues. That's a big change."

Tutt is hopeful that the move to the 'red zone' category of the provincial framework will help bring the region's COVID numbers under control.

He said while his business will be impacted, he believes the health authorities are doing what's best for everyone.

"I trust them, what they're doing, so if we've got to move to red in K-W for a period of time, I don't know how long, to get those numbers down a little bit, then so be it. I'm all on board with that," Tutt said.

Under Ontario's provincial framework, the 'red zone' means large social gatherings are not permitted and the limit for all organized public events and social gatherings has been lowered to five people indoors and 25 people outdoors.