Why are so many movie theaters named 'strand'?

Answer 1

The Strand movie theaters are a chain; the company opens many theaters around the world.

There are several theater chains such as GMC, Cinemark, AMC, Regal, United Artists, and many more. Strand movie theaters are one of the oldest operating theater chains.

As for the origins of the term 'strand' it dates back to before there were movies:

Strand road in London was a popular district for performers and entertainers dating back hundreds of years. A stage theater was built on Strand (pre movie era) which became widely famous for its theatrical performances.

In the early days of movies; as chains of theaters began operating, their creators would take the names of famous old Opera houses and theater houses and use them as names for movie theaters.

The Mark's brothers (Mitchel and Moe Mark) started a movie theater chain named 'Mark Strand Theaters' combining their last name 'mark' with the 'strand theater' concept from one of Londons famous entertainment districts. 'Mark' was later dropped from the title and the Strand Theater chains continued to spread.

If there are other chains also adopting the word Strand into their titles; they are similarly just using the name of a street in London that was famous for having a theater on it.

In contrast to the theaters trying to use the famous Strand road to hype their business; the road itself gets its name from a rather mundane source:

The word strand means a strip of land bordering water; Strand road simply happens to run along the Thames river and the boring name it was given simply implied: that road that runs by the river.

The entertainment and hotels that took roots there were in large part due to the extra traffic coming in off the river.

For more information see: Strand History in related links below