Cinebar to open two new gold class cinema complexes at Coolangatta and Ferny Grove

The owners of a boutique Brisbane cinema have announced they are taking their affordable gold-class “movie experiences” to two new South East Queensland locations.

AFTER working their way out the depths of the pandemic the owners of an independent boutique inner city cinema will open two more South East Queensland sites next year offering their full serviced movie experience.

The Blue Room in Rosalie has been operating since 2005 and the business – rebranded last year as Cinebar – will bring its gold-class experience to The Strand at Coolangatta in early 2023.

Demolition of the old BCC Cinemas in the shopping centre has started and it will be replaced by six gold-class cinemas ranging from 50 to 70 seats.

Cinebar Coolangatta will feature a boutique lounge bar, with a state-of-the-art kitchen preparing an extensive food and beverage offering available to guests in the lounge before the movie or in-cinema which also features luxurious leather recliners.

An artist's impression inside the new Cinebar Coolangatta which will open in early 2023.

By the end of 2023 Cinebar will have opened its third cinema complex at the $140m mixed-used lifestyle centre, Ferny Grove Central, which is currently under construction.

Cinebar co-owner David Taylor said securing the 15-year lease – plus a liquor licence – when BCC moved out earlier this year of The Strand after three decades was a great opportunity after battling through the pandemic.

He says they’ve rebounded strongly due to pent up movie demand and a wave of new blockbusters being released.

“People have shown they want to go out, see the big movies and have a top night out. We’re really looking forward to a pretty big November, December and January,” he says.

Taylor says blockbusters like Avatar: The Way of Water and Black Panther: Wakanada Forever will lead the holiday movie line up with their gold-class cinema experience proving increasingly popular.

“People are looking to get out after being stuck at home and now they want an experience. It’s not just a night at the movies anymore,” he says.

Cinebar co-owner David Taylor at his Rosalie cinema.

SELTZER DEAL

GOLD Coast-based alcoholic seltzer brand Hard FIZZ is toasting a deal which has seen the brand stocked in more than 850 First Choice Liquor Market and Liquorland outlets.

It’s a shot in the arm for the Burleigh Waters-based drink brand which was founded in the early days of the Covid pandemic but has already racked up more than $10m in sales in the increasingly popular alcoholic seltzer category.

Hard FIZZ chief executive Wade Tiller says “all the projections around alcoholic seltzers are coming true”.

“Consumers are very much latching onto the ‘better for you’ movement when it comes to alcohol and Hard FIZZ fits smack bang in the middle of that,” he says.

“Our flavours are naturally brewed and 99 per cent sugar free so they don’t have any of the

nasties you might get in beer, wine or those sugary alcopops.”

Hard FIZZ is toasting a deal which has seen it stocked in more than 850 First Choice Liquor Market and Liquorland outlets.

For record seltzer means “mineral water with bubbles” and its been around for a long time but adding alcoholic has only caught on in a big way recently.

And there are plenty who are getting on the bandwagon with Hard FIZZ’s cohort of celebrity owners include Grammy nominated DJ, Paul Fisher, and his podcaster wife Chloe, professional surfers Laura Enever and Nikki van Dijk and TV chef, Hayden Quinn.

The company now employs 20 people nationally and has released a new subrange, FIZZ X Energy, which has a series of “functional” flavours loaded with antioxidants.