Slipped on my Vans tennis shoes, zipped up my hoodie and walked into the new West Bend Cinema like I belonged.
Actually it was a pretty bold move (don’t tell the boss) as I slipped in to the old Paradise Theatre to see if I could snap some pix and give you an Insider look at the new remodel.
Pretty sharp! Actually, I know it’s a work in progress but it was REALLY clean. The local contractors were replacing every square of carpet, the kids were cleaning EVERY cup holder and all the walls were being painted.
“Are you here for the employee meeting?” OMG – I thought I was totally busted.
“Yeah, sorry – I know I’m a little late,” I said.
(What a horrible employee if I’m late to the first meeting with the new owners.)
They were meeting in one of the theatres and I took a seat in the back row.
“We are not the previous owners,” said a guy up front. “If you have a complaint – let us know and we’ll take care of it.”
They brought free cookies and the new owners talked about professionalism and being friendly to people, asking how they liked the movie. “Cleanliness and friendliness are our new motto,” said the owner.
Apparently there are 21 owners in this new group.
The employees asked questions about clocking in, direct deposit, the parameters around serving alcohol.
One girl asked if she could have a raise. Phew – – glad she asked because that was going to be my question. 
Guess what?? Everybody got a raise! “We are not the previous owners, we want you to be happy working here,” said the guy up front.
All the employees are getting new uniform shirts. Grey polo shirts that have “West Bend Cinema” written on the front. Black pants and black shoes will round out the uniform …. along with a smile. If you worked several days in a row you got two shirts. The owners stressed, they wanted the employees to have a clean look too.
“This change over and remodel will be done in stages. The new seats will be arriving in the next few weeks,” said one of the owners. “We’ll be getting a sample of the seats and that will be in the entry – so people in the community can check them out.”
I asked to be excused to go to the bathroom. The meeting seemed to be winding up … and I needed to check out the other theatres and see what upgrades were done to the bathroom.
Everything looked really super clean. There was still some work in progress but they have all day to get that done. I snapped a quick photo of some of the movies that will be playing. I’ll post that shortly.
The new West Bend Cinema opens Friday, March 18 at 4:30 p.m. First movie starts at 5 p.m. Exciting for West Bend!
