Sperry's Moviehouse celebrates one year downtown

The sun had begun to set over downtown Port Huron one recent night when Scott Beedon showed off the view from the third floor of Sperry’s Moviehouse.

The area outside nearby theaters was quiet, and he pointed out over the city’s main street, where you could see the industrial stacks teeming in Sarnia far out over town and a glimpse of the St. Clair River in between buildings.

“This is one of my favorite spots, especially at night with the lights and the snowflakes,” said Beedon, Sperry’s general manager. “That’s all lit at night.”

Even when it’s closed, the glow of the tall Sperry’s sign fills the intersection of Huron and Grand River avenues — something resident Gary Goulette noted as “a warm and welcome anchor."

Most might remember Sperry’s presence from its long stint as a department store.

But it was the boutique movie theater’s opening on Dec. 15, 2016, that marked a high-profile step in the revitalization of downtown Port Huron. Now, those who run it aren’t shying away from celebrating its first birthday.

“We’re encouraging everyone to bring in a canned good. We will match can for can to the (Blue Water) Community Food Depot on 10th Street,” Beedon said of a drive that was to end Dec. 15. “Everyone that comes in and buys a ticket on Friday receives a free bag of gourmet popcorn and a birthday cupcake.”

Beedon said the canned goods collection is in the theater’s first-floor lobby.

The Sperry’s Moviehouse project was first announced three years ago — a $10 million project from developer Chuck Reid.

In early 2017, its 2nd Floor Dinnerhouse came into the fray and, by the spring, so did its gift shop at the front of 301 Huron Ave.

Then, Reid, a Holland-based entrepreneur, announced this summer he’d be opening a second Sperry’s Moviehouse on the west side of the state sometime in 2019. 

The Port Huron Sperry’s building was first proposed for a hotel before Reid purchased the former Michigan National Bank Building, 802 Military St. There, interior demolition could start “in the next few days” as the first step in recreating it as a CityFlats boutique hotel, ballroom, and event space.

Reid said he’s thrilled with the community’s reception of both developments. With each, he said he’s finally starting to see the projects help breathe life into downtown.

“That’s what I envisioned when I decided to go ahead and do it,” Reid said. “I think it’ll bookend our little block we’ve got. And (it’s) great with the concept for downtown’s (strung-up) lights. Again, with the hotel (and Sperry’s), it can be a connector to bring people from one side to the other."

As it did the weekend when the curtains rose on “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” Sperry’s is marking its anniversary with the opening of the sci-fi franchise’s latest installment, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

Beedon said the movie house gets a lot of sell-outs on Friday and Saturday nights. “The building swells,” he said, when certain Hollywood blockbusters hit the screen.

“We’re excited for Star Wars. Star Wars is going to be a (big) deal,” he said. “’Beauty and the Beast’ hit us really strong in a positive way in March. That was followed back up with ‘Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 2)’ in May, and then we turned around in July and had ‘Spider-Man: (Homecoming).’ That was kind of the summer blockbuster. ‘Wonder Woman’ did well. And then, of course, the movie ‘It’ went gonzo on the Internet and our little balloon.”

For the September premiere of “It,” Sperry’s Moviehouse shared a photo on social media of a red balloon floating over a sewer grate in front of the building in tribute to the film’s use of balloons as a tool, marking the creepy arrival of its main antagonist Pennywise.

“Did you see that on Facebook?” the general manager said. “It went crazy. People would pop it.”

Beedon declined to share numbers related to the Moviehouse’s first year for proprietary reasons, although both he and Reid said it brought “thousands upon thousands” downtown.

However specific, that popularity isn’t lost on local residents.

Most people point to the comfortable seating, five-dollar Tuesdays or the service when asked what they like about the theater.

Angela Shilling was at Sperry’s Dec. 8 with her 11-year-old granddaughter Natalya. She said they try to come at least once a month — Natalya lauded seeing “The Emoji Movie” with her mother — and it’s generally “kids’ stuff.”

“They like it because they get the food,” Shilling said. “I thought it was awesome when (they first opened). They bring the food right to your seat. And they recline. It’s really nice. I haven’t been upstairs, though. Just to the theater part.”

Port Huron residents Linda and Ray Foltz said they come in part because they “enjoy the movies” and it’s close to home.

Ray Foltz joked “the popcorn’s better,” and Linda said it is nostalgic because of the history of Sperry’s. Either way, they’re frequent fliers.

“We were just here a couple, three days ago,” she said, laughing. “We came to see ‘The Star,’ we came to see ‘Coco,’ and we saw ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ the other night. Now we’re here again. Seeing 'Just Getting Started.'”

For others, Sperry’s presence downtown goes much deeper.

Resident Tanya Keefe said she finds the place family-friendly, and it’s become an experience for her kids.

“We love it,” she said in a message. “Best movie theater in town and close enough that our kids have started taking turns taking each other to the movies and then the Raven for a snack with their allowance money.”

Resident Susanna Shockey Stefanides recalled the memories there — “combing the clearance racks” before the original Sperry’s closed.

“So many sad things have happened to downtown, but now, Sperry’s Moviehouse has brought life back to downtown,” she said, also in a message. “My daughter and I only go to Sperry’s. We feel it’s important to support our local businesses and contribute to downtown’s revival.”

Plenty of visitors also pointed to Sperry’s as the place to go for date night.

Paul and Kim Richards, who were at a local real estate group’s party at the Dinnerhouse Dec. 8, said that’s usually the case for them. 

“Plus the whole downtown atmosphere, too,” Paul Richards said. “You could come here for the movie and eat across the street. We’ve been here multiple times.”

“The building is unique for what it was,” he added. “I’ve been here when it was empty, when it was the old Sperry’s. I was here before they built this. I think it’s a very nice asset to Port Huron.”

Kim Richards agreed its proximity also makes downtown more special — they’ve already made fond memories.

“We were here the first day (for the Dinnerhouse). We were the first people to use the blender. She was like, ‘Hang on, I’ve got to plug it in, figure out how to work it.’ She’s like, ‘I’ve never used this blender before,’” she said. “And then they had all these drink lists. I’m like, ‘Alright, we’re going to try this one,’ and then we went to the next one and the next one. We tried every single drink that you could make in her blender. It was awesome.”

‘Working feverishly’ downtown

Moving forward, Beedon said Sperry's is looking forward to more firsts.

On Thursday, he said they’d introduced a massage chair into a theater — aiming to, as he joked, bring people back to see a movie again after it put them to sleep the first time.

“We are boutique, so you get an intimate feel …,” he said. “It’s fun, and we’re rocking.”

Whether people are downtown to grab a bite or a drink, shop, or stroll, Natalie Watson, the city’s Downtown Development Authority director, said Sperry’s is having an effect that other businesses can feel.

She didn’t have any tangible numbers to show that but said from “just seeing the cars in the lot and foot traffic” that “it really just speaks volumes for what they’re doing.” She said Sperry’s has also been a good collaborator on events.

“It was very, I think, inspiring. It was inspiring for everyone to see Sperry’s come back like it did,” Watson said. “It’s just taking an old tradition, kind of revamping it and revitalizing it. I think it was encouraging to everyone downtown. It’s been a great asset downtown in terms of drawing people downtown.”

Jody Parmann, who co-owns the Raven Café with her husband Sadaat Hossain, said they’ve definitely noticed Sperry’s impact downtown.

Since it opened, she said they, as a couple, haven’t seen a movie anywhere else. Like other residents, it’s a date night spot. But they’re seeing signs of that in their business, too.

On Thursday, the Raven’s Twitter account, for example, referenced the “Star Wars” premiere and the establishment’s short distance from Sperry’s.

“We do have a lot of people coming in before and after movies. You know, just a similar situation. They’re out with friends or on a date night,” Parmann said. “There seems to be more nightlife because of it. When I drive downtown, I see more people walking back and forth between businesses and the theater.”

For the other book-end development, Reid said he is “anxious to get the hotel done.”

Owner of Charter House Innovations and two CityFlats hotels on Michigan’s west side, he said in October, they were shooting for fall 2018 for completion.

On Thursday, he said he was expecting to meet with a project architect, adding they were “working feverishly” to see through what he hoped would be “the coolest hotel around.”

“You’ll start to see dumpsters out there any day,” he said of the planned CityFlats. “That’s the first sign of progress — dumpsters. It’s comical.”

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmitH@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.