BY-JO Theatre | Photo by Grace Ramsdell | Edited by Kayli Thompson | The Wright State Guardian
Located in the small town of Germantown, Ohio, the By-Jo Theatre offers family films and the latest blockbusters to a mostly local audience every weekend.
The theatre’s history
Founded in the early 1900s, the theater was originally located at the corner of Center and Plum Street, where the Farmers Hotel once stood.
Local legend claims that the name “By-Jo” was coined after a contest created by early By-Jo owner Joe Endress. Resident Harold Kercher took the top prize with his entry, a poem. That poem ended with the phrase “I want that sled, BY-JO,” and the name stuck.
The By-Jo moved to its current location at 20 S. Main St. in 1926 and business was shut down on a few occasions before it was bought and renovated by Scotty and Barb Allen. The couple reopened the theatre in December 1986, and their son Rick and his wife Nina kept the business open for 33 years.
Its current owners, Cora Ann and Brian Tarbox, took ownership of the By-Jo last December.
New ownership and the impact of coronavirus
CoraAnn Tarbox had previously owned a restaurant with her mother. However, taking over the By-Jo Theatre presented the Tarbox’s with a whole new set of challenges.
“When you open a new business, you learn so much more about what you’re getting into than you realize,” she said. “There’s a lot more logistically going on in the background than you can even imagine, like the booking agent, and how the booking agent works, and dealing with the studios and the rules and regulations of them.”
Shutting down the By-Jo when the coronavirus pandemic began was a difficult decision for the Tarboxs, especially since they had only owned the theater for about three months. The By-Jo first closed its doors on March 16, the weekend it showed the Disney film “Onward.”
“That’s kind of rough being a new business owner and having that come to light, of ‘never mind, quit while you’re ahead’,” said Tarbox.
The Tarboxs bought the property from the Allens due to their desire to keep it as a movie theater.
“Not being able to use this new business that we have that we love, that we’re excited about, was very frustrating just seeing it sit here empty,” she said. “That, I think, was the most heartbreaking part of it.”
It reopened for a short time on June 12, capping off ticket sales at 100 people per showing and requiring facial coverings. However, showings during this time were met with low attendance. The By-Jo officially reopened on Friday, Sept. 18 by showing the 1985 adventure film “The Goonies.”
The movie industry has been rocked by the pandemic, causing the By-Jo difficulty in finding new movies to show to its audience. Many recent theatrical releases such as “Tenet” or “New Mutants” have not been family-friendly.
“That’s a struggle for us to want to get a new movie in here when it’s not something that we would regularly show,” Tarbox said. “So, we don’t feel comfortable showing something just because it’s new. We’re sticking right now with the classics, which to me should get more people out, especially those who haven’t seen these movies on the big screen.”
Keeping history alive
The theatre has only one screen for showing movies, which rotate every couple of weeks. It can seat up to 188 people.
Tarbox explained that retaining these aspects helps give the theatre its unique atmosphere.
“For us, it’s about keeping the nostalgic look of how it used to be,” she said. “This is how movie theaters were when movie theatres first started. There weren’t multiplexes. There wasn’t more than one movie theatre in a location. So, the idea of having something like this to bring back how it was in the old days is something that’s very important to Brian and I, that we keep history alive.”
This also factors into what the business charges customers. Tickets for a movie cost $5 per person, and concessions are also sold at low prices.
To Tarbox, the feeling a moviegoer receives upon entering the By-Jo is far different than that of a modern movie theatre.
“It gives you a different feeling than walking into a brand-new movieplex,” she said. “It’s nice and new and fresh, and this is old and genuine and beautiful.”
The theatre is a highlight in Germantown; much of its audience comes from the town and its surrounding area, and many of its residents have grown up with the By-Jo. This small-town nostalgia factor is, according to Tarbox, what keeps their customers coming back to see classic or new films.
“I think it’s just the hometown feel that we have here at the By-Jo,” she mentioned. “We have people that come in all the time and tell us ‘my husband and I had our first date here’ or ‘this is where we came when we were in high school and got caught naked in the back row.’”
“It’s a really amazing feeling to have people come in and tell us the history that they have with the location, because it’s not only about letting new people know the history about this, but having those stories from older generations who have been here since they were little and have grown up with the place.”
