Latest / Best of Business / Charlie Loughnan: business consultant on the sale of Christchurch boutique cinema Academy Gold

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Charlie Loughnan: business consultant on the sale of Christchurch boutique cinema Academy Gold · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from Newstalk ZB. Follow this
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• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Now, an iconic Christchurch cinema is selling after 30 years
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  Speaker 2: of family ownership. The Academy Gold Cinema in Sydenham has
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  Speaker 2: been at its current site since 2013 after quakes closed
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  Speaker 2: the last location. The family says it's time to move on.
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  Speaker 2: Charlie Loughnan is a business consultant and a family member
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  Speaker 2: helping to sell the cinema, and he's with us.
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  Speaker 3: Hi, Charlie.
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  Speaker 4: Hi, Heather.
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  Speaker 3: Why are they selling?
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  Speaker 4: Oh, it's time, I think. So I've been in the
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  Speaker 4: business a long time now. Annette, who's the proprietor of
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  Speaker 4: the business, she's 75, health's getting on a bit. And
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  Speaker 4: I think having the cinemas in general, cinema industry is
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  Speaker 4: hit pretty hard by COVID. So it's taken a long
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  Speaker 4: time to recover from that. And it's a longer ride
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  Speaker 4: than most businesses, but it's back and it's trading well.
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  Speaker 4: It's been going for a good couple of years and
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  Speaker 4: it's now time to perhaps pass the baton on to
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  Speaker 4: someone new to put their mark on it.
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  Speaker 3: Who do you reckon would want to buy a cinema?
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  Speaker 4: Actually, it's been astounding how many people have come through
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  Speaker 4: with inquiries on this. But it really suits either an
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  Speaker 4: existing operator who's looking for another venue or someone who's
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  Speaker 4: just a movie aficionado, which is, where these guys had
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  Speaker 4: come from. And Ethan Rodney, when they bought the cinema
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  Speaker 4: 30 years ago, that was what their background was. They
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  Speaker 4: loved movies and just loved the passion of being able
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  Speaker 4: to select movies and put them on and talk to
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  Speaker 4: people about them all day long.
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  Speaker 2: Just because, Charlie, of where cinemas are, like where the
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  Speaker 2: sector is, you know, it feels like it's been in
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  Speaker 2: the decline for a long time. It feels like the
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  Speaker 2: people who are currently in the cinema business are people
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  Speaker 2: who've been there for a bit and have sort of
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  Speaker 2: managed to keep their businesses going despite that. But do
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  Speaker 2: you think that there is an opening here for somebody
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  Speaker 2: young to come in who maybe wants to, I don't know,
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  Speaker 2: find some scale in it?
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  Speaker 4: Oh, without a doubt. Look, the big cinema operators are
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  Speaker 4: spending large on investing in their cinemas because the economy,
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  Speaker 4: certainly in Christchurch, is doing very, very well, and people
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  Speaker 4: are out doing it. The movie industry has been hit
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  Speaker 4: by all of those things that have come along, the videos,
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  Speaker 4: the DVDs, the streaming services, and they all take a
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  Speaker 4: wee bit of a hit, but people always go back
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  Speaker 4: to going out to the movies. It's the quintessential date
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  Speaker 4: night thing. And it's really a good quality night out
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  Speaker 4: with friends. It's quite a simple thing to go and do.
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  Speaker 2: But it's now becoming luxe. Like I noticed the guys
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  Speaker 2: in Wellington, the Reading Cinema guys, they are stripping out
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  Speaker 2: what they've got because, of course, the building's all earthquake
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  Speaker 2: prone and whatnot. And they're putting in the luxury offering
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  Speaker 2: that so many of the boutique cinemas have with the
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  Speaker 2: comfy chairs and the food to your seat.
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  Speaker 3: That's really where it's at now, isn't it?
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  Speaker 4: Yes, of course. That's right. And so the movie industry
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  Speaker 4: has had to evolve. It's no longer 1,000-seat halls. I mean,
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  Speaker 4: the cinemas that the Academy have are three cinemas, one
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  Speaker 4: of 25 seats, one of 49, and one of 64.
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  Speaker 4: So they're not big. They are comfortable and luxurious, and
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  Speaker 4: we offer a different level of movies, perhaps maybe a
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  Speaker 4: little bit more arthousey, something a little different to go
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  Speaker 4: and do, because it's It's a bit more fun, and
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  Speaker 4: that's really what people are looking for. They're not looking
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  Speaker 4: for a bag of popcorn. They're looking for a glass
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  Speaker 4: of wine.
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  Speaker 2: Does the Academy still do the Paw Patrol during the
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  Speaker 2: school holidays, that kind of thing?
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  Speaker 4: Not so much.
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  Speaker 3: Mate, you've got to get into that. That's where the
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  Speaker 3: business is, don't you think?
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 4: Well, there's an opportunity for a new vendor.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, now I'm interested all of a sudden.
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  Speaker 2: Hey, Charlie, best of luck with it, mate. I look
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  Speaker 2: forward to seeing how this goes. It's Charlie Loughnan, business consultant,
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  Speaker 2: family member, helping sell the cinema. So that's the only
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  Speaker 2: time that I go to the movies now is at
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  Speaker 2: school holiday time because you got the kids.
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  Speaker 3: And then like if it's sunny, you're running them out,
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  Speaker 3: aren't you? Like a dog. You're taking them out. You're like, run,
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  Speaker 3: go for it. Throw a ball at them.
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  Speaker 2: Get them to chase the ball, do all kinds of
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  Speaker 2: weird and wacky things. But if it's raining, this is
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  Speaker 2: the game changer trick that I've learned. When it's raining,
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  Speaker 2: it's movies time. And then off you trot.
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  Speaker 3: For us, the local is the Silky Otter in Ponsonby,
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  Speaker 3: which is luxe as well.
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  Speaker 2: Take them in. You could get yourself a coffee. Get
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  Speaker 2: them a little ice cream for a little treat. You
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  Speaker 2: could sit there comfy.
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  Speaker 3: I don't really want to watch Paw Patrol, but I
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  Speaker 3: don't mind.
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  Speaker 2: They're watching Paw Patrol, and I'm listening to Mike Hosking
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  Speaker 2: on delay while I'm sitting.
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  Speaker 3: It's the most.
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  Speaker 2: Expensive way to consume Mike Hosking, but at least you
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  Speaker 2: got silence from these dudes. I reckon this is where
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  Speaker 2: the business is at. The Academy can take that one
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  Speaker 2: and run with it, monetize that idea.
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