Ocho Rios cinema picks up patrons after MoBay closure

Cove Entertainment, which operates a 120-seat theatre at the Island Village Shopping Centre in Ocho Rios, said its attendance has grown since Palace Amusement permanently closed its Montego Bay multiplex.

“We have been attracting quite a few of their patrons from Montego Bay and surrounding areas,” said Dr Anthony Clare, head of Cove Entertainment, in a Financial Gleaner interview. “They come right into Ocho Rios.”

Dr Clare, a businessman with years of experience in the fast-food sector, took over the Ocho Rios cinema last June only months before Melissa struck. The theatre, once operated by music mogul Chris Blackwell, had been closed for years before Dr Clare and his team revived it. The facility now occupies roughly a third of its original footprint. JMMB Bank uses the rest.

Though independent, Cove operates under an arrangement with Palace Amusement to screen films for which Palace holds the Jamaican distribution rights.

“Most of our movies we get through Palace. There’s a percentage of royalty that is paid to Palace,” Dr Clare told the Financial Gleaner.

Dr Clare declined to discuss the venture’s finances in detail but hinted at broader ambitions. He has fielded requests to open a location between Falmouth and Montego Bay to serve moviegoers left without a cinema. He is also considering central Jamaica.

“There are other areas of Jamaica like May Pen and Mandeville that don’t have a cinema,” he said.

Expansion, however, would come against a difficult industry backdrop. The Palace multiplex closed in March following the passage of Hurricane Melissa last October. That location generated $73.5 million over its final nine months, down from $190 million in the prior-year period, according to financials from Palace, the only cinema company listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

He has been working to differentiate the experience beyond the projector. Cove Café, the theatre’s concession stand, offers chicken wraps and what Dr Clare calls wholesome meal options alongside the usual popcorn and hot dogs.

“We’re trying to rekindle the excellence in the Cove brand,” he said.

Clare added that the cinema also caters to school trips: “School groups now travel from as far as Clarendon and Manchester – well outside the north coast – to catch screenings.”

The cinema adds to the mix of attractions at Island Village, which includes the Margaritaville entertainment venue, a Starbucks, and a cluster of retail shops, restaurants, and cannabis dispensaries.

Streaming and reduced disposable income have eroded Palace’s ticket sales, which flattened at $1.3 billion for the year ended June 2025. After Melissa, company-wide revenue fell to $715 million for the August-to-March period, below the $944 million recorded in the same stretch a year earlier.

luke.douglas@gleanerjm.com