NEW MARQUIS 10 SCREEN CINEMA IN CRESTVIEW BRINGS NEW BUSINESS TO AREA

New 10 Screen Movie Theater and adjacent Shopping Center in Crestview taking shape. One of the long awaited commercial enterprises is up and running and doing well. But why not, prior to this opening, thousands of people were driving from Crestview to Destin to see a quality movie. Guess what, they do not now. The thousands of citizens in the Crestview now have a place to give their might dollar to, without driving at least an hour. There is a lot of pinned up money in Crestview and now they have a place to spend it. More to come.

Nearby businesses benefiting from new Marquis Cinema (PHOTOS)
Jul 25, 2010
Brian Hughes
Florida Freedom Newspapers

CRESTVIEW — As more residents discover the new Marquis Cinema, the theater’s owners aren’t the only ones benefiting. Nearby businesses have noticed an increase in customers since the cinema opened.

“We’ve been swamped,” said Sherrie Stanley, a waitress at Ms. B’s Bar-B-Que, the nearest restaurant to the Marquis. “There has definitely been an increase” in customers.

“It’s been great,” agreed Belinda Gibson, the owner of Ms. B’s. “We always had a good lunch crowd. We can really tell the difference with the movie theater now. Our dinner business has been much better.”

The Martin family has had a produce stand at the corner of Richbourg Lane and Industrial Drive for more then 30 years. Operated now by Chris Jenkins and his family, the stand also has seen an increase in business. In fact, moviegoers have to drive right past it.

“We see a lot more traffic,” Chris Jenkins said. “Just today there was a couple guys going to the movies who bought some watermelons and some boiled peanuts. They hoped they could take the peanuts into the movie.”

Marquis Cinema opened in May. Wayne Harris, executive director of the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce, said it has been a boon to the area.

“Anything like that has an economic impact to our community,” Harris said.

Construction is expected to begin in August on the 40,000-square-foot retail section of Twin Creek Crossing adjacent to the Marquis, as well as a Johnny O’Quigley’s restaurant opposite the Jenkins’ produce market, Harris said. He said both businesses should be open in less than a year.

Johnny O’Quigley’s will become the chain’s flagship restaurant, Harris added. It will be more family oriented than its Destin sports bar.

Gibbons welcomes the opportunities a new neighbor will bring, saying that it will attract even more customers.

“I think it’s going to bring more people to this end of town,” Gibbons said. “We have people who come in every day from the other end of town going to the movies who didn’t know we were here.”