Buy Australian: Wallis Cinemas celebrates milestone in tough year

First came VHS, then DVDs and streaming services – and now COVID. Family owned Wallis Cinemas has faced many challenges but always manage to come up with creative solutions.

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Celebrating 70 years of business in South Australia on Friday, Wallis Cinemas marketing manager Paul Besanko admits it hasn’t been without its challenges.

Having survived the introduction of VHS, DVDs and streaming services, COVID proved yet another challenge for the fourth generation family-run business to overcome.

However, Mr Besanko said it was a challenge that was met with plenty of creative strategies.

“We shut down in March and on our reopening in June we tried all sorts of things, from private hires and inviting people to play their Playstations on the big screen to someone screening a wedding video on the big screen for family,” he said.

During the COVID lockdown, the cinema also ran a Sunday market with fresh fruit and vegetables and provided COVID safe entertainment for the community at the Gepps Cross drive-in.

Deanna Wallis (front) with staff and friends Madison Gilbert, Paul Besanko, Vicki Best, Kelly Gilbert and Jim Filipovic. celebrate Wallis Cinemas’ upcoming seventieth birthday. Picture: Dean Martin

This ability to adapt isn’t a new concept for Wallis Cinemas, with founder Hugh Wallis stepping away from his refrigeration business in the 1950s to set up a drive-in cinema in Adelaide’s western suburbs in 1953.

“We actually still have a Wallis fridge,” Mr Besanko said.

“Hughie bought about 40 acres from the airport in West Beach and built the second drive-in cinema in Australia.

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“We captured that drive-in market around the time that cars became more affordable. People wanted to go out and do things, the drive-in industry captured that very well.”

This adaptability and response to consumer needs has largely contributed to the business’ success, however the relationship with staff has also proved an important factor.

Employing 280 staff across their six locations, Mr Besanko said the length of service reflects the work environment at the cinema.

Deanna Wallis. Picture: Dean Martin

“I’ve been here 43 years, a lot of our casual staff have been with us 20-to-30 years,” he said.

“The majority (during COVID) were entitled to JobKeeper. When we got over the worst in May, we brought staff back to tidy locations up, steam clean the building and keep them attached to us and meaningfully employed.”

While supply from American-based studios continues to push back new releases, Mr Besanko said he’s noticed a shift in the community’s focus, with more people looking to support local.

“The general feeling is people are focused on local, which is great. We’ve had lots of positive comments, which we take the time to listen, respond and act on,” he said.

“The movies have a sense of nostalgia, we feel the need that people want to go out and enjoy the experience. We’ve just got to keep pushing through and work to get people in the habit of going to the movies regularly.

“We are slowly getting back to a sense of normality: it is getting better week by week.”

Buy Australian is a News Corp Initiative – in partnership with Woolworths and Australian Made Campaign and supported by Red Energy – to help put money back in to our economy by supporting our producers, makers and manufacturers.

Originally published as Buy Australian: Wallis Cinemas celebrates milestone in tough year