Marcus Theatres Announces Temporary Seating Plan That Limits Capacity By 50 Percent

Marcus Theatres, a division of The Marcus Corporation (NYSE:MCS), is planning to limit seating capacity at its theatres. The change will go into effect as early as today, but the full-scale plan begins Wednesday, March 18 until further notification. With the well-being and safety of guests and associates a top priority, this formal social distancing seating plan helps create space between guests and is in alignment with updated guidelines from health agencies locally and nationally.

"At Marcus Theatres and Movie Tavern by Marcus, we are closely monitoring the evolving coronavirus situation and working under the direction provided by local health agencies," said Rolando Rodriguez, chairman, president and CEO of Marcus Theatres. "In addition to increased cleaning procedures and guidance from partner experts such as Ecolab, we are now taking an additional precaution of adjusting our seating plan to limit capacity in our theatres. The additional room is intended to provide a more comfortable social distance between guests."

The ticketing system (in theatres, on MarcusTheatres.com and on the app) will make certain seating unavailable in order to accomplish the additional space between guests. For all locations, seats for sale will alternate - a pair of seats will be available and the next pair will not. To accommodate families, a section of four seats will be sold together in auditoriums that have a minimum of 50 seats.

Beyond this updated seating plan, Marcus Theatres' practices in responding to COVID-19 prevention follow the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and area health department guidelines. Cleaning procedures and frequency have increased, hand sanitizers have been added, additional cleaning is provided by a third-party service overnight, and theatres will continue to take direction from Ecolab and leading health agencies.

"We are prepared to take additional steps as new information and best practices emerge - all for the benefit of our guests and associates," added Rodriguez. "In the meantime, we want our guests to feel comfortable and confident that we are providing a clean and comfortable escape to the movies during these stressful times."