Wheaton Theater Hopes Service, Prices Will Draw Movie Goers

The lobby of the Montgomery Royal Theater at the Westfield Wheaton Shopping Mall on Veirs Mill Road has the standard carpeting, movie posters, popcorn machines and glass candy displays found in any theater. It's the waiting area with 20 black office chairs that indicates the owner is trying something new to draw customers.

Sunil Maximus, the company president and theater's main owner, created the space so children and teenagers who've been dropped off for a movie can wait safely inside for their rides home. It's part of Maximus' strategy of using friendly service, lower prices and a few "extras" like the waiting area to build a loyal customer base from Wheaton and surrounding communities.

"They come happy, they leave happy," said Maximus.

Before taking over the Wheaton theater in November 2009, Maximus had managed movie houses two decades in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, including the Wheaton site for previous owners.

Before becoming Montgomery Royal, the Wheaton theater had been an AMC Loews complex, the P&G Wheaton 11 and the Montgomery Cinema and Draft House. To succeed where others have shut their doors, Maximus is hoping good customer service will help him capitalize on a prime location; the theater is at a mall, near the Wheaton Metro stop and has ample parking close to Georgia Avenue.

It's the only movie theater in Wheaton, although several are nearby, including the American Film Institute Silver Theater and Cultural Center and the Regal Majestic Stadium 20, both in downtown Silver Spring, and the AMC Loews five-screen complex at North Bethesda's White Flint Mall.

"A lot of people in the community, to just watch a movie, they don't necessarily want to travel," said one of the theater's managers, Roshan Baddeliyanage. "They want to stay in the neighborhood."

On any given day at the theater, Maximus and a manager are on hand to greet people and handle any questions or concerns. They've been known to walk outside to make sure people get safely to their cars at night, and to occasionally give a small child a free ice cream. Maximus' wife, Susitha Mendis, the company's vice president, is frequently there on weekends as well.

The service-oriented approach appears to be working, if online reviews are any indication. A dozen or so people who've patronized the theater under current management have raved about the service and cleanliness as well as the lower prices, which Maximus is trying to retain for the foreseeable future as a way of keeping customers.  (Admission after 6 p.m. is $9.75 for adults; $8.50 for students, seniors and military personnel; and $8 for children; matinees are $8. A small popcorn is $3.75.)

Maximus also hopes to draw an eclectic clientele with an interesting mix of films, including Spanish-language and Bollywood offerings. So far the theater has offered a mostly conventional mix of popular action and family films, and a few artier Hollywood selections that have proven popular with local senior citizens.

If business takes off, Maximus has a three-year plan to renovate the theater, including installing new seats and 3-D systems. For now, he is using six of 11 screens and hopes to break even -- the busy summer months helped -- and soon turn a profit. To boost sales, the theater will run ads and coupons beginning this fall on prescription bags at a local pharmacy.

Movie goers who recently caught a weekday matinee said they didn't think much about ticket prices when they chose the theater. Most were drawn by the movie schedule and location.

"I don't have to go to downtown Silver Spring and park in a garage," said Kurt Liestenfeltz of Silver Spring, who said he had read the theater was back in business and offering good service on Yelp, the social networking and user review Internet site.

Others were pleased with the theater's smaller size. One patron, who identified himself as Mark M. of Bethesda, said he missed some of the smaller, independent movie houses that have closed in Washington, including the Biograph and Key theaters.

"I like the fact that it's not some big stadium theater," he said. "It's just a regular movie house, which is nice."