The partners started out small. Both certified public accountants, they decided to invest in renovating single-screen theater in Independence Township in 1989."We had no money," Glanz told GlobeSt.com. "But we were smart-alecky accountants, we thought we could run one of these theaters better than the people we dealt with."

The two learned the business through trial and error, Glanz said. The theater slowly made money.

Witnessing the success, Glanz said the two decided to build a theater in Birch Run, home of a popular outlet mall in central Michigan."We thought it made a lot of sense. It was an underserved market. We had some friends who became angel investors, got a few loans and opened up a six-screen theater in 1997," Glanz said.

The Birch Run location has made money every year, he said, adding four more screens in 1999.

While the economy was slow, the two decided to open up the Birch Run theater for events, such as watching NCAA basketball games, battle of the band competitions and the champion Detroit Red Wings games.The event hosting hit it off with residents, Glanz said, and the duo decided to bring that type of atmosphere to their newest theater, the 73,000-sf Emagine Novi.

The 18-theater complex's lease was signed in the summer of 2001 in the city's main street Fountain Walk development, and opened in October.The new theater offers all new amenities, such as cushy stadium seating and serving alcohol to patrons.

"Every other entertainment complex, like stadiums, offers alcohol," Glanz said. "There's lots of people who would honestly rather have a beer than a soda with their popcorn. We think it's an opportunity to serve an unfulfilled niche, though we enforce strict controls," Glanz said.

The company is now working on building Emagine Canton, which straddles 20 acres on the border of Canton Township and Novi. He said a meeting will be held before the Westland City Council next week for site approval.

Theaters that don't invest in modern amenities are doomed to fail, Glanz said. Also, location and proper bookkeeping are very important, he said."We knew not to take places that owners told us made money on paper. We knew we couldn't make it work from phantom cash flow," Glanz said.

Instant Insights /

Emagine Expanding Theaters in Michigan

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