Marquee Cinemas - Wytheville — Local services in Wytheville

It's a shame how this theater has evolved since it opened in September of 2004. Opening weekend had some hiccups with parking lot break-ins but management at the time handled it professionally. The place was well kept and well maintained with clean auditoriums, rest rooms, and lobby back then and if there was a hitch, management handled it well.

Fast forward 15 years, through a slew of floor staff and management and this isn't the case in 2019. Restrooms aren't regularly checked, auditoriums are frequently left uncleaned between shows, sometimes all day, and often staff isn't as welcoming as a place of hospitality should be. It benefits by being the only theater within a half of an hour drive, else I would choose them - and do whenever possible, despite higher prices.

I currently work in the entertainment industry and am a long time theater worker; ranging from floor staff to management at a variety of theaters including the now closed Millwald, Carmike Cinemas, Regal Cinemas, and this very location of Marquee a decade or so ago, and while all businesses have their problems, this place has become notorious, especially among older patrons, of offering a substandard product.

Not to be ageist, but an apparent issue is young management among young staff. Theaters are often first jobs for young people, where they go to learn rhe ropes of a job force, but instead of mentorship from professional leadership, employees and management often share a peer to peer relationship - good for social life probably, not so much for developing a professional work environment.

As example, we stood outside the locked doors this morning, in poor weather, until about 3 minutes before the scheduled show time of 11:40.

Plenty of time to buy tickets, concessions, and get kids to the rest room....... right. As reward we were served from a soda fountain absent of syrup, so we got to enjoy a calorie free serving of carbonated water at least.

As negative of a review as this has been, I want this local theater to succeed. I also want it to improve so that paying customers find value in their...

Theater is usually ran in a skeleton crew so there is a lot of cleaning that only gets half heartedly done, at best. There are few walk through enduring the trailers and films so any kn screen errors go unnoticed unless a patron notifies staff.

The parking lot lights are usually not on, so in evening and night showings the parking lot is not illuminated creating a potentially unsafe environment.

The theater has declined an incredible amount in the 2 decades it has been in Wytheville. The only reason to not go to Christiansburg or Blacksburg is the convenience of a short commute for locals. Given equal distance travel, movie goers should go to one of those 10 out of 10 times over Wythe Marquee.

Seating hasn't been updated similar to other neighboring theaters and the antiquated seats could use maintenance and deep cleaning. Despite opening in 2004, it feels like you're watching a movie in a 1980s theater. Unfortunately, the population of Wytheville doesn't warrant a competitor to even look at opening here, especially considering the current state of watching movies in theaters.

Films are quickly becoming available to stream at home. It is places like this theater that make that an exciting proposition. The nails are being put into place, and the current condition of this cinema makes one wonder when the final nail will be driven.

Operate with a suitable staff Properly train them and hold them to standards Clean Reinvest in your theater

Then it...

When we went in the movie sound did not match the movie so someone went and told them so we had to wait a while then when the movie did start it started on in the movie some not the beginning.so I went and told them to start it from the beginning and a few mins passed and it started. But then the picture was bigger than the screen and when the subtitles showed up you couldn’t read it? If it wasn’t one thing it was another. I had brought the family to watch this movie and drove 1 hrs and 20 mins away and one of the reasons why we chose to go there their online app said it was 3d but it wasn’t. If o know that we would have went to Abington movies theatre. So the next day I called the and spoke with the manager and she said she “could” give me a refund so we drove back over there and just for her to tell us she “couldn’t” give us a refund just free tickets just the 5 I bought. A trip there for nothing I know me or any of my family Won’t be going back there again for sure. A horrible...