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Dinner-movie chain plans 'crown jewel' for Dallas

Dinner-movie chain plans 'crown jewel' for Dallas

DALLAS Studio Movie Grill, a five-unit suburban dinner-and-a-movie chain, said it would open a "crown jewel" prestige location in Dallas’ core area in the first quarter of 2008.

SMG, which opened its first theater in Plano in 2000, plans to give the new eight-auditorium theater a “ boutique feel,” said Brian Schultz, owner and president of the Dallas-based chain. SMG currently has four theaters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and one in Houston. It’s one of a growing number of dinner-movie chains.

The site for the new theater is a former Albertson's grocery store at Royal Lane and Central Expressway. The auditoriums will offer seating for 100 to 400 people.

“We’re really going for the feel of an upscale, boutique hotel,” Schultz said. “It’s all about service. You have a hotel-concierge feel when you get the tickets. You are face-to-face with someone; there’s no glass. There’s a bar-lounge, and then [you] go into the theaters.”

SMG also has openings planned in 2008 for Houston and Frisco, Texas.

“We are really a from-scratch kitchen,” Schultz said, noting that SMG’s corporate chef updates the menu twice a year. The menu ranges from $8.99 burgers to $11.99 “all-the-way” pizzas as well as other entrees. Beer and wine also are offered.

“Our customer doesn’t compete with traditional movie theaters,” Schultz said. “Our core customer is 25 to 70 [years old], usually with a high level of education.

"The chain’s highest-grossing movies are the family-oriented," he added. “Rather than having to go to three or four places for an evening, you can have dinner, drinks, and a movie in a safe environment.

"Time efficiency has a lot to do with our offerings and the family focus," he continued. "These folks don’t want to get into the hassle of a mega-mall.“

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