Romeo Theatre to Close in September After 40 Years in Washington Township
The family-owned, two-screen Romeo Theatre will shut down in mid-September after four decades in business, with owners pointing to pandemic shutdowns, industry strikes and the shift to streaming.
The Romeo Theatre, a two-screen movie house in downtown Washington Township for 40 years, will close its doors in mid-September, the family that owns it announced on Facebook.
"While we have proudly served this community for the last 40 years, we are heartbroken to share that the Romeo Theatre will close its doors in mid-September," the owner wrote in the post. "We had hoped our 40th year would be more celebratory, but we are grateful for the years we spent bringing entertainment to the community while staying true to our focus on family values."
The theater has run continuously since it opened, showing first-run films alongside occasional throwback screenings, and generations of families in Macomb County grew up watching movies there. Longtime patrons said they were caught off guard when the news began circulating online.
"I was really surprised when I heard about it, because it's been open since I was a kid," said Shannon Kuehnel, a Washington Township resident who remembers watching "Jaws" and "Taxi Driver" there not long after it opened.
Stephanie Zimmerman, another local resident, said the theater has been part of daily life in the township for as long as she's lived there.
"It's sad. It's been a staple in the community the whole time I've lived here, it's good popcorn and wonderful people, so sad to see it go," Zimmerman said.
In the Facebook post, the owner laid out the financial pressures that led to the closure. A yearlong shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic was followed by the Hollywood actors' and writers' strikes, which left the theater with a thin slate of films to show for roughly 18 months. Even with help from the property owners, business never climbed back to where it was before the pandemic.
"Since COVID, moviegoers' habits have shifted toward streaming and premium on-demand options," the owner wrote. "We have seen this change at the Romeo Theatre, and theatres nationwide have experienced similar attendance declines."
The building's property owners plan to bring in a new business once the Romeo Theatre closes, though it will not be another movie theater, according to the announcement.
Word of the closing spread quickly through the township, drawing hundreds of comments on the theater's Facebook page. The Washington Township supervisor posted a message of his own, calling the theater a piece of the community's identity beyond its rows of seats and screens.
"The Romeo Theatre has been so much more than a movie theatre, it has been part of the fabric of our community for 40 years," the supervisor wrote.
Carol Pelletier, who has frequented the theater for years, said its absence will be noticeable for a long time.
"It's going to be a place that's going to be missed here in town," Pelletier said.
For Pelletier and many others, the theater's popcorn is as much a part of the memory as any film that played on its screens.
"The popcorn, of course, is to die for," she said.
The owners left open a small possibility that the popcorn, at least, might survive the closure in some form. "Perhaps someday we will pop up around the community with our popcorn machine, offering delicious Romeo Theatre Popcorn-To-Go," the owner wrote.
No final closing date has been set beyond the mid-September timeframe, and the owners have not said what will happen to remaining showtimes or tickets in the theater's last weeks. The theater's Facebook page remains the source residents are checking for updates on its final screenings.
