PHOTO
A well-known Christchurch boutique movie theatre has been put on the market for sale.
Academy Gold Cinema on Colombo St, Sydenham, has been family-owned for 30 years.
But the family recently confirmed they feel it is now time to move on.
Business consultant Charlie Loughnan is one of the family members helping to sell the boutique cinema.
He told NewstalkZB the industry has been hit hard as a result of the Covid pandemic.
“It’s taken a long time to recover from that and it’s a longer road than most businesses, but it’s back and it’s trading well and it’s been going for a good couple of years — and it’s now time to pass the baton on.”
The three-screen cinema is being offered for sale through ABC Business Sales, with the price open to negotiation.
The boutique cinema has 138 seats across its three screens and is known for its mixed programme of independent, international, documentary and mainstream films.
The cinema’s listing states it has an annual revenue of about $989,000 and made a profit of about $225,000 in the 2026 financial year.
The original Academy Cinema opened in 1976 in the former Christchurch Boys’ High School gymnasium at the Arts Centre.
Back then it was owned by Masters Cinemas and managed by Rodney Cook, a former shoe designer.
Rodney and his wife, Annette, took ownership in 1986, expanding the operation to include the 70-seat Cloisters Cinema and the Casablanca Wine Bar.
The family later opened Metro Gold in Worcester Towers near Cathedral Square in 2008.
After the Christchurch earthquakes forced their central city cinemas to close, the family developed a new home at The Colombo. Rodney died of cancer in January 2013, aged 64, before it opened.
-Allied Media