Cobb Theatres

Cobb Theatres was a cinema chain found in 1947 by R. C. Cobb and headquartered at in the 2000-2100 SouthBridge Parkway building in Birmingham's SouthBridge office park.

Cobb's grandfather, Jefferson Richards, opened a movie house in Fayette in 1921. Richards' daughter, Lucille Cobb, bought the theater from him in 1934 and sold it and a second theater to her son, Richard, in 1947. Starting with those to locations, Cobb expanded across North Alabama, adding drive-in theaters as well as indoor movie houses. By 1965 Cobb operated 27 theaters in the Alabama and Georgia. He moved the company from Fayette to Birmingham the following year and built the nation's first four-plex in 1971. In 1978 he constructed the Cinema City 8 in Roebuck, then the largest multiplex in the nation.

In 1992 Cobb purchased Tampa, Florida's General Cinema chain, then acquired South Florida's Wometco Chain in 1994. The company was operating 643 screens when it was acquired by Regal Entertainment for $200 million in 1997.

A new Cobb Theatres III was founded by Robert Cobb in 2000, building the Dolphin 19 in Miami and expanding to 11 locations by 2006. It launched a CinéBistro concept in Miami and Tampa in 2008 and operated more than 253 screens at 21 locations in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia and Colorado. In October 2017, Mexican cinema chain Cinemex acquired Cobb via its CMX subsidiary (which it had used to launch U.S. locations with a premium cinema concept), which made it the eighth-largest U.S. cinema chain with 30 locations.

Locations

Current Alabama Locations (now operated by CMX Cinemas)

• Hollywood 16 & IMAX, 4250 Old Greensboro Road, Tuscaloosa
• Pinnacle 14, Gulf Shores

Former locations

• Alabama Theatre, 1817 3rd Avenue North, Birmingham (owned 1981-1987, never operated)
• Brook Highland Cinema, Brook Highland Shopping Center on U.S. Highway 280 (1994-1997)
• Brookwood Twin, Brookwood Convenience Center (July 1972–1980s)
• Cobb Capri, 2300 block of Center Point Parkway (1965–mid 1970s)
• Cinema City 8, Roebuck Shopping City, Birmingham (1978-1992)
• Center Point 6, Queensbury Shopping Center, Center Point (1983-1997)
• Cobb Festival 12/Festival 18, Eastwood Festival Center, Birmingham (1989-1997), now Edge 12
• Cobb Midfield 2/Midfield 6 (early 1970s-1996)
• Cobb Movies 4, 1007 U.S. Highway 78, Jasper (1983-1997, 2000-2013)
• Cobb Vestavia, Park South Plaza (early 1970s–early 1980s),
• Galleria 10, Riverchase Galleria, Hoover (1988-1997)
• Hoover Square 6, Hoover Square Shopping Center, Hoover (1983-1997)
• Village East Twin, Eastwood (1970–)
• Wildwood 14, Wildwood Centre South, Lakeshore Parkway, Birmingham (1991-2005)

External links

• Cobb Theatres website

References

• Carlton, Bob (July 28, 1997) "Cobb Dims Lights on 50-Year Run", The Birmingham News
• Orlando Sentinel, CMX Cinemas buys Cobb Theatres (October 5, 2017).