Groton Cinemas 6, Groton, CT ~ Brands "R" Us

Groton Cinemas 6, Groton, CT

February 04, 2018 Robby S.

GROTON CINEMAS 6
925 POQUONNOCK ROAD
CLOSED AUGUST 23, 2015

UA Groton Cinema (A D-150 House)

The UA Groton Cinema on opening day ©Cinema Treasures

The Groton Cinemas 6 was a local movie theater in Groton, Connecticut in the Groton Shopper’s Mart. The movie theater was the main anchor of the plaza alongside Ocean State Job Lot, Big Y, and Planet Fitness.

The theater opened in April 1967 and boasted itself as the first movie theater to open in the area for the last 30 years.

An early ad for the theater alongside ones for the still operating Niantic Cinema and the now defunct Groton Drive-In ©Cinema Treasures

The theater initially opened with just one screen, but sometime in the 1970s, the theater was divided in two to make two separate auditoriums

A 1977 ad in the New London Day advertising what two movies were playing in the theater’s auditoriums. ©Cinema Treasures

Sometime in the 1990s, the cinema expanded once again, making room for 6 auditoriums. Instead of dividing any theaters like the theater did in the ‘70s (because quite frankly there wasn't enough room to do so), 4 new auditoriums were built adjacent to the building. A new lobby and concession stand area were constructed as part of the expansion.

A 1991 aerial shot of the Groton Cinemas ©Google

A 2018 aerial shot of the Groton Cinemas ©Google

Despite the flourishing popularity of the Groton Shoppers Mart, the cinema struggled with attendance issues in the later half of the 2000s. The cinema couldn’t keep up with the increase of net streaming services such as Netflix or Hulu that attracted more and more customers throughout the years.

Another factor that may have contributed to the cinema’s demise is the refurbishment of the next-closest movie theater, Regal Cinemas 9 in Waterford, which most notably received new reclining seats as compared to the dated and worn seats in Groton

This combined with the overall atmosphere of the theater feeling incredibly dated ultimately lead for the theaters to abruptly close its doors on August 23, 2015. The theater announced no prior notice to closing, and tickets were actually still available for purchase on sites like Fandango long after the theater permanently closed. To this day, some sites like MovieTickets.com have Groton Cinemas as an available option for buying tickets, however no showtimes are listed. The movie theater database Cinema Treasures still has Groton Cinemas listed as open.