'Kind of surreal to me that I own a movie theatre': N.S. cinema keeps cameras rolling

A small theatre in Amherst, N.S., is fighting to keep the magic of cinema alive in the community amid stiff competition from larger chains.

The movie theatre has been part of the community for nearly 80 years, but in 2022 it faced closure. Mikhial Mansour, president of Mansour’s Menswear, stepped in and bought it.

“It’s kind of surreal to me that I own a movie theatre,” he said. “I just felt that it was sad that the theatre was going to close and I thought, you know, if I could make a deal where I bought it and kept it open for the community, that would be a great thing to do.”

Mansour updated the seating and added signage to the building while maintaining a regular schedule of new releases.

“We’re going to have a local retro kind of experience,” he said. “It’s such a nostalgic, fun experience for the customer and people are really responding well to it.”

The theatre is up against heavy competition across the border. There are two Cineplex theatres in Moncton and Dieppe, one of which has an IMAX cinema.

Duncan Robertson, senior policy analyst with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), said support for small businesses can create ripple effects for communities.

“I think it’s important for consumers to understand that supporting local businesses has more of an impact on our local economy,” he said. “Sixty-six cents out of every dollar spent at a local small business stays in the local economy, which is far less when you think of a large multinational business.”

The goal for the Amherst theatre is to have at least 20,000 customers annually to be sustainable, and they’re just 550 people away from that target.

“We’re not trying to make, you know, big profits here,” Mansour said. “Hopefully…we can get to 25,000 or 30,000, but 20,000 is definitely a huge achievement.”

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