AMC Theatres will bring reserved seating to most of its theaters by Memorial Day (AMC)

May 09, 2019 at 11:46 AM EDT

AMC Theatres will unveil reserved seating at most of its movie theaters, either online or at the theater locations, the company confirmed to Business Insider.
The option has slowly been rolled out to new and renovated theaters, but by Memorial Day, reserved seating will be available at all AMC branded and AMC Dine-In theaters, according to Stephen Colanero, Chief Marketing Officer at AMC.
Mobile ordering of food and beverages is also expanding at the chain.
According to Colanero, the option to order food and drinks before you get to the theater will expand to AMCs in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco this month and next.
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AMC Theatres, the largest movie chain in the world, will allow moviegoers to reserve seats — either online or at most of its theaters in the US — beginning Memorial Day, the company confirmed to Business Insider.

"We are just on the cusp of finishing that project," Stephen Colanero, Chief Marketing Officer at AMC, told Business Insider on Wednesday, saying the feature would be available for all AMC branded theaters and AMC Dine-In theaters (though not for AMC Classic theaters). "All those theaters will have reserved seating by Memorial Day, which makes it a lot easier for people to buy tickets online because they now can pick their seats."

For the past few years, the chain has been slowly rolling out the reserved seating option, but it was mostly available at newer theaters or renovated ones with recliner seats or huge Imax screens. In August 2016, New York became the first major city where AMCs had a reserved seating option.

The chain is also expanding its mobile ordering of food and beverage heading into the summer months.

The option to order your food ahead of time on the app, and either have it prepared and ready when you get to your seat (if you're at an AMC Dine-In), or waiting in a pick-up area when you get to the theater, launched in three markets in March (Boston, Denver, and Houston) and is expanding to New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco in May and June.

"If it's a 7:00 movie, you can say to have it ready at 6:50 and we will have the food ready at that time to pick up or delivered to your seat," Colanero said.

And mobile food and beverage ordering is catching on with AMC customers. According to the company, the Friday that "Avengers: Endgame" opened, the company doubled its previous record of food and beverage mobile orders. The chain then broke that new record the following day.

In the company's earnings call on Thursday, AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron said US food and beverage set a new first-quarter record for the company, with a capture of $5.23 per patron.

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