Allen Theatres going into ‘hibernation’, southern New Mexico layoffs to affect 450 employees

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- Since 1912, Allen Theatres has been entertaining crowds across southern New Mexico.

But now, all that is being put on hold by owner Russell Allen in what has become the latest business casualty resulting from Covid-19.

Allen said that he is far from alone, claiming that hundreds of other businesses have been forced to shut down by the virus and the heavy handedness of New Mexico's governor.

“New Mexico is literally the only place besides New York City that has not been allowed to open,” Allen said.

He said he tried to keep his theatre business alive by just operating drive-ins, but it wasn’t the same.

Allen said that 450 employees have lost their jobs, at least for now, as the fallout from the coronavirus has caused a massive monetary drop off.

“We’ve lost about 70% of our gross revenue,” he said, dashing pre-pandemic plans to expand their facilities.

“We has been planning on doing an entertainment center with bowling and games and diners but now we have pretty much spent all the money we saved up to do that,” he said.

According to Allen, this is less of a farewell and more of a ‘see you later’ as he said the cinemas are going into “hibernation“ with a tentative return date of March 2021.