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Topic: Eastern Federal?
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Jerry Chase
Phenomenal Film Handler
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Posts: 1068
From: Margate, FL, USA
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 06-17-2002 06:55 AM
I couldn't comment about their operations, the last time I was in an EF theatre was the mid 1970s. Their website design has a fatal flaw though, one common with many web pages. The initial page took almost exactly one minute to load on my 56k dialup and subsequent pages took too long as well. Customers wanting to get showtimes don't want to wait for slow loading pages.The first impression that a 56k user gets of many semi-professionally designed websites is a blank image map that immediately cries out "I'm so impressed with my ability to make pretty pictures with Front Page that wasting your time doesn't matter. When the page loads (sometime within the next hour) you'll be impressed." If an index page doesn't load within 10 seconds on a dialup connection or give me an "opt out" of the intro, I am NOT impressed by the skills of the designer. Please, if you must make fancy web pages, give me the choice of waiting to see pretty pictures or seeing a simple page that loads quickly and gets the job done. I can't believe that EF's customers all have DSL or cablemodems.
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Oscar Neundorfer
Master Film Handler
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Posts: 275
From: Senoia, GA
Registered: May 2000
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posted 06-17-2002 07:03 AM
Eastern Federal is a family owned company out of Charlotte, NC. We have a long-standing vendor relationship with them, and I can tell you that they are one of nicest groups of people to work with you could want. They have theatres in NC, SC and FL. I am not sure about other states.They build one or two complexes a year, and they build pretty nice cinemas. The latest one just opened in Florence, SC. They did a one week charity run of last years films before the official opening, and donated the substantial proceeds to some local charities. Definitely a classy outfit! ------------------ Oscar Neundorfer Chief Engineer SMART Devices, Inc. oscar@smartdev.com
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Josh Jones
Redhat
Posts: 1207
From: Plano, TX
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 06-20-2002 06:26 PM
Here is the summery for those not patient enough to wait for the main page to load.Eastern Federal Theatres, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of the premier regional motion picture exhibitors in the United States. Beginning with the acquisition of its first properties in the early 1930's, EFC has been continuously involved in the development, ownership and operation of motion picture theatres. Since the mid-1970s, the Company has pursued a strategy of owning its theatre properties and utilizing its in-house real estate, engineering and construction expertise to select and develop custom built theatre facilities. The Company is privately owned by members of the Meiselman family. Current Chief Executive Officer Carter D. Meiselman represents the third generation of the Meiselman family in senior management after his father, Ira S. Meiselman, and his grandfather, Herman B. Meiselman. George A. Royster, Jr. is the Executive Vice President of the company. The Company currently owns 21 theatres operating or under construction throughout North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. Of its total of 202 screens, 163 or 81% are stadium seated and all theatres feature digital stereo sound systems. The Company's goal is to provide a state of the art entertainment experience for its patrons that will keep alive the "Magic of the Movies." I like their motto. It makes you feel like your about to go in for something special when you go to see a movie, something that is sorely missed today.
Josh
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Ryan Powers
Film Handler
Posts: 27
From: Charlotte, NC, USA
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 06-20-2002 08:08 PM
Since I live in Charlotte, I can give you the low down first hand from a customer standpoint. In my opinion Eastern Federal is average at best compared to the competition in the area. The Charlotte metro area mainly consists of four different theater chains. Eastern Federal, it's local rival also headquarted in Charlotte, Consolidated Theaters, and the big guys AMC, and Regal Cinemas. Of the four chains in Charlotte, Eastern Federal has the most locations with seven. Of all the locations which I have visited here in Charlotte and one in Winston Salem, I have found that all the auditoriums are very narrow with small screens. Even auditoriums with seating of 250 offer a screen size which I normally see in the smallest auditorium at Carmike or Regal. I am not saying this is the case for all locations because I have not been to every location in my state. I have only been to one new Eastern Federal theater with stadium seating. I did not care for it at all. The main reason being that because the auditoriums are so long and narrow, half the seating is a sloping floor style and the back half is stadium. The negative with this is, the seats for the sloping floor are completely different then the stadium. While the stadium seats are very nice and comfortable much like what is available in a new AMC theater they are so far back that the screen looks like a postage stamp. The sloping floor seats are those very uncomfortable seats you might find in a theater built before the 90's. The back support ends at my shoulder blades. Cup holders in this section attached to the seat in front of you compared to attached to your arm rest. At least on on every row ends up missing because someone put their feet up on the seat in front and broke the cup holder off. Even though the stadium seating is the nicest, I have found most people including me sometimes seated up closer to the screen in the uncomfotable seats.Eastern Federal offers DTS, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Digital EX at certain locations. Not all screens offer digital sound. I have found the sound at each location to be average. Nothing impressive, but not terrible either. Eastern Federal's oldest location, "The Manor" is in Charlotte and currently runs independent films on it's two screens. This theater was recently renovated with new seating, curtains, and lobby. No stadium seating or digital surround sound is available here. This location is also home to the Charlotte film Society. It's still a nice theater and even better after the renovations. Each location which I have visited except for the Northpoint cinema in Winston Salem, has always been extremely clean each and every visit. Even the Northpoint location isn't that bad. It's concessions offer much the same which you can find at any other chain. In most of their locations, my opinion is that there is a serious lack of detail in each cinema. Most are as basic as they come for today's standards. However, things are beginning to change with their latest projects. The newest Eastern Federal Cinema in the Charlotte area which is called the Birkdale 16 is from what I have heard extremely nice. No word on the screen size and mixed seating yet, but it flaunts a impressive looking lobby. From what I hear the lobby is set up like a court yard with benches and street lamps. The ceiling is black with fiber optic lighting to look like stars in the sky. I will eventually check it out for myself. All I can say is that they do a nice job, the theaters are clean and the people working there are friendly. In Charlotte though, AMC, Consolidated, and Regal are hands down one step ahead from a personal prospective in seating, sound, screen and overall theater appearance inside and outside. This comes from someone who lives 2 miles from a new 12 screen Eastern Federal Theater but drives past it to get to other locations 9 times out of 10. Sorry, but it's true.
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