Stratford Cinemas re-opens on Mondays

Stratford Cinemas hopes more people will come out and support the local independent theatre amid its re-opening on Mondays.

As of May 4, Stratford Cinemas is open on Mondays once again. The movie theatre had to shut down on Mondays for a few months starting January 2026.

"We were only having about 10, sometimes 12, sometimes less people on those days and we weren't even covering our staff wages, so we were forced to close on those days,” said Nadine Shephred, owner/operator of Stratford Cinemas. "There are a number of other days where we did have that same situation but we were hoping to keep it going for the community to be able to support that." 

There are a few factors that led to re-opening on Mondays such as post-secondary students returning home to Stratford this spring, Stratford Cinemas experiencing a larger following, and a five-star Google review highly praising the movie theatre but noting that they wished it was open on Mondays.

"We're going to give it a try and see how it goes,” Shepherd said.

May 4 was the first Monday Stratford Cinemas was open since the New Year. Shepherd said that attendance was still low, but it will likely take some time for numbers to pick up as the word travels.

"Attendance wasn't great, but it wasn't as bad as it had been so as long as we can pay our staff wages and cover the bills, then we would be able to stay open on those days,” she said.

The film industry is struggling and hasn’t fully recovered in a post-COVID restriction society.

"We do have some really great movies, so it's not because of the movies currently because we do have some really great options and we do keep trying to change it up so we can bring in a little bit of something for everyone,” Shepherd said.

The weekends are the busier days for Stratford Cinemas compared to weekdays.

"Any weekdays, we would love to see people out and be able to support our local movie theatre,” Shepherd said.

Stratford Cinemas is on 551 Huron St. Movie listings can either be found online by visiting www.stratfordcinemas.ca/now-playing, the Stratford Cinemas Facebook page, or by calling 519-273-6780.