The Hiway Theater in Jenkintown was featured by WHYY in an article titled “Big movie theater chains are struggling. But a chain of quaint, local theaters in Pa. and N.J. is doing just fine”.

According to the article, Renew Theaters, the small nonprofit theater chain which operates Hiway, is “thriving” in spite of corporate giants AMC and Cineworld struggling post-pandemic.

“Barbie” was the number one movie at the Hiway in 2023, which led to the successful advent of “Barbenheimer”, or the back-to-back screenings of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer”, WHYY said.

“‘Barbenheimer’ was huge for us and one of the things that finally brought people back to the theater,” said Chris Collier, executive director of Renew. “We had a lot of people saying this was the first time that they were back. 2023 was an exceptional year with a lot of good movies.”

“I’m already a member of the Hiway Theater and I really love supporting a local business. I’m also a Jenkintown resident. So, I really want to keep Jenkintown thriving — and buying tickets here is a way to do that,” Jessica Hargraves said.

The Hiway is coming off their second annual Sci-Phi Film Festival, which was held over the weekend.

Renew Theaters also operates the Ambler Theater in Ambler, the County Theater in Doylestown, and the Princeton Garden Theatre in Princeton.

For the full story, you can click here. For more on the Hiway Theater, you can visit their website.

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