ROCHESTER — The smallest movie theater in town will no longer be operating to turn a profit. Gray Duck Theater is closing down its coffee shop portion and becoming a nonprofit organization starting Oct. 1, 2022.
Gray Duck owner and soon-to-be executive director Andy Smith said turning the theater into a nonprofit organization was always a goal he had when it first opened in 2018.
“One of our main inspirations is a cinema up in Minneapolis called Trylon Cinema,” said Smith. “They started off as a for-profit LLC because it's just a lot easier to start out that way, you get a name, get a base of followers, people who like to come to the space. Then switch it to a nonprofit model where you can start asking people to give some of their time and expertise to help you thrive and be as good as you can be.”
Smith and his wife, Ana, also operate two bookstores. Garden Party, next door to Gray Duck Theater, and Zumbrota Literary Society in Zumbrota. Those businesses are remaining LLCs and will not be turning into nonprofits like Gray Duck.
Currently, Gray Duck employs only two people other than Smith in the coffee shop and movie theater. Smith anticipates one of these employees to remain on as a consistent volunteer when the switch occurs on Oct. 1, while the other is a high school student who will mainly focus on their studies.
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To keep the theater running under its normal operations, Gray Duck will need at least two volunteers for each four-hour shift while it is open. The hours of operation look to remain the same as the theater will now be open Wednesdays through Sundays beginning the week of Oct. 3.
Tuesday night, Smith hosted a volunteer training session.
T.J. Maynes and Emily Baron, who moved to Rochester from New York City in June, feel as if Gray Duck has become a haven in their new city. Both are passionate fans of cinema and are hoping to volunteer at least once a week when the shift for Gray Duck begins.
“We were really excited to find out there's a small local cinema in town, and we wanted to be more involved in the community,” said Baron.
“This place reminds us of a couple of different theaters back in New York, and that was really exciting to us,” said Maynes. “We both work in tech, and we're wanting to spend time outside of tech when we’re not working. We've only been here twice to watch movies and we're just excited to be a part of the experience for other people.”
The responsibilities for volunteers will only be serving concessions and taking tickets. The technical side of the films playing will be happening automatically with the devices Smith has to play the films.
The timing of the change during Smith’s campaign for the MN House of Representatives seat 25B has no correlation with his campaign. Still, the timing of the business change from an LLC to a nonprofit has been a bit overwhelming for him at times while focusing on the campaign trail.
“I don't know if I'm not overwhelmed. That's the difficulty. My wife works full time with the bookstores, and we just hired our first full time employee over there (Zumbrota), so that really helps. The campaign obviously takes a ton of time, so it really is just trying to do the best that we can do with everything on our plates,” said Smith.
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Patrons of Gray Duck Theater hoping for a great cinema experience to continue can expect little changes to come. The largest will be no more caffeinated drinks brewed alongside popcorn popping. The plan is for Gray Duck to have two to three show times for movies per day.
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