St. Louis Park’s Showplace ICON movie theater closes, but will reopen next week with new owner

The show will go on at a popular St. Louis Park movie house that closed over the weekend — with new owners.

Officials with Marcus Theatres, a division of the Marcus Corp., announced Monday that they will take over the Showplace ICON Theatre & Kitchen, rename it Marcus West End Cinema and show its first flicks July 8.

“We’re thrilled to extend the Marcus Theatres experience to the Shops at West End,” said Mark Gramz, president of Marcus Theatres. “It’s an opportunity to continue to engage Marcus movie fans as well as gain new ones and to demonstrate our continued confidence in the theatre business as the summer blockbuster season heats up.”

Marcus takes over the multiplex through an agreement with the property’s owner, officials with the Milwaukee-based company said. The West End location will be the company’s eighth in Minnesota and fourth theater in the metro area, joining Oakdale, Rosemount and Shakopee.

Showplace ICON, which offered moviegoers a menu of food, cocktails and craft beers, thanked patrons for their “unwavering support, loyalty and enthusiasm over the many years.”

The theater also said it has automatically given refunds to patrons who bought tickets in advance. Patrons who bought tickets for future screenings from Fandango and Atom will get refunds directly from those companies, Showplace officials said in a statement.

Marcus said it will retain Showplace employees and “welcome them into the Marcus family.” Customers will be able to join Marcus Magical Movie Rewards at no cost.

Marcus is the fourth-largest theater company in the United States with 981 screens in 78 locations in 17 states.