{"id":187184,"date":"2026-03-02T19:59:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T19:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/187184\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T19:59:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T19:59:06","slug":"alamo-drafthouse-rebrands-montecillo-to-flix-brewhouse-the-prospector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/187184\/","title":{"rendered":"Alamo Drafthouse rebrands Montecillo to Flix Brewhouse \u2013 The Prospector"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Feb. 7, there was an\u00a0impromptu announcement<\/a>\u00a0that the El Paso\u00a0Alamo Drafthouse\u00a0locations\u00a0in Montecillo and on the East side would\u00a0be closed for renovation. The renovations\u00a0of both locations\u00a0were then announced to be a rebrand\u00a0into Flix Brewhouses, adding two new locations with the original Flix Brewhouse at West Towne Marketplace.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although the announcement for the rebranding of the locations\u00a0was short\u00a0notice, it was a plan over a year in the making.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

At a press conference\u00a0addressing changes in\u00a0El\u00a0Paso and\u00a0other Texas\u00a0cities,\u00a0including\u00a0Houston\u00a0and\u00a0Lubbock,\u00a0Kristelle\u00a0Siarza\u00a0Moon,\u00a0CEO of\u00a0Siarza,\u00a0a media relations company\u00a0representing\u00a0Flix, said\u00a0planning\u00a0for the rebranding\u00a0Began well before the public announcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0overnight, but it certainly\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0been.\u00a0We\u2019ve\u00a0been working on this for over a year,\u201d\u00a0Moon said.\u00a0\u201cThere was a lot to navigate with the franchise or\u00a0relationship and\u00a0making sure that the timing was right.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Employees\u00a0of the Alamo Drafthouse locations were notified\u00a0shortly before the\u00a0announcement. They\u00a0were offered\u00a0the\u00a0opportunity to continue working at the locations as Flix Brewhouse employees, offering them immediate training if they chose\u00a0to stay.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A current employee,\u00a0who\u00a0requested\u00a0to stay anonymous\u00a0due\u00a0to\u00a0privacy\u00a0concerns,\u00a0said some staff members were aware of internal discussions before the\u00a0public\u00a0announcement, but confirmation came only days before operations ended under the Alamo name.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some of the employees, they had information, but it\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0made public until\u00a0four\u00a0or\u00a0five\u00a0days before our final days.\u00a0There had always been rumors but never anything we could all confirm,\u201d\u00a0they\u00a0said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The employee\u00a0described the training\u00a0experience\u00a0with\u00a0Flix\u00a0Brewhouse\u00a0as\u00a0positive\u00a0and\u00a0hoped\u00a0the community would response well to the change.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI really feel as though\u00a0we\u2019ll\u00a0be taken care of by Flix,\u201d they said.\u00a0\u201cI hope with the closing of the Alamo and the opening of Flix, the community of El Paso reacts positively and shows up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

There have been mixed reactions with the closing and rebranding of the Alamo locations, with people feeling upset,\u00a0positive\u00a0and even indifferent about the locations upcoming changes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Esteban Fuentes,\u00a0a junior at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP),\u00a0said he felt\u00a0saddened\u00a0by\u00a0the\u00a0closure.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I\u00a0kind of find\u00a0it\u00a0really sad\u00a0just\u00a0because\u00a0it\u2019s been my go-to place for such a long time,\u201d\u00a0Fuentes said.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0just\u00a0really sad\u00a0to see.\u00a0\u200aEvery\u00a0time\u00a0I went in there it felt\u00a0very nostalgic from\u00a0when I remember going to see\u00a0a movie for the first time and just\u00a0experiencing that\u00a0over and over again.\u00a0\u200aIt\u00a0feels like saying\u00a0goodbye to\u00a0somebody without even getting a chance to properly do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fuentes\u00a0was subscribed\u00a0to the Alamo\u2019s subscription service, which was canceled and refunded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u00a0did give me\u00a0a full refund for the whole membership\u00a0since they\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0renew\u00a0before they closed down,\u201d\u00a0Fuentes said. \u201cI\u00a0did have a lot of points wrapped up, so it just kind of sucks that I wasn\u2019t able to take advantage of it, especially since they closed down.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

UTEP senior, Ramsey Perez,\u00a0said he was indifferent\u00a0towards the\u00a0rebranding,\u00a0noting\u00a0he prefers going to other theatres.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0a pretty abrupt change.\u00a0I was not expecting it\u00a0changing\u00a0into Flix. I thought Alamo was\u00a0going to\u00a0be here more permanently than Flix was,\u201d\u00a0Perez said.\u00a0\u201cI\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0really see the difference because I only went to Flix once and it was a positive experience. \u200aBut,\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0a person who goes to Premiere [Cinemas]\u00a0typically\u00a0most\u00a0of the time than any other\u00a0theater.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0indifferent\u00a0to\u00a0the change.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0not that big of a change for me, but I could see how it is for other people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new Flix Brewhouse\u00a0locations\u00a0were\u00a0scheduled to open\u00a0on Feb. 21. Tickets\u00a0were priced at\u00a0$5.55\u00a0through Feb. 26\u00a0to mark the transition.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aziel Ramos is a contributor and may be reached at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n