Retail business models have seen accelerating rates of change since WWII. Beginning in the 1960s, downtown business districts were stripped of their "anchor" department stores by "mall" developments. Here in Santa Cruz, that movement got an assist from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which fatally damaged the buildings that were home to the Ford's and Gottschalk's (previously Leask's) department stores. The demolished Gottschalk's store was replaced by a nine-screen movie theater. Now, the rise of online video streaming threatens the continued viability of movie theaters. And, just as the earthquake hurried the demise of the department stores, the 2020-21 COVID-19 restrictions on indoor gatherings have been the final nail in the coffin for some theaters. Recent rumors are that Regal Cinemas will not reopen its flagship Santa Cruz operation (seen above in 2017).
This follows closure of the Riverfront Twin a few years ago (seen below in 2017). From fourteen downtown movie screens, Santa Cruz is now down to three.
Locations in the Santa Cruz Changes blog can be found on
this Google Map.
Update: Regal sold the Cinema 9, and it reopened on March 25, 2021, as Santa Cruz Cinema.
