Odeon Preston: the multiplex cinema a short walk from the city centre

The second of Preston's two city-centre multiplexes, and the one people mean by 'cinema Preston' about half the time.

Odeon Preston is a multiplex cinema near the city centre. Together with Vue it carries the mainstream cinema trade in central Preston, and between them the two account for most of what people mean when they search for a cinema in the city.

The other two cinemas in the directory are both outside the centre and both unusual in their own way: The Flower Bowl at Barton sits inside a larger entertainment complex, and the Palace at Longridge is a small independent in a market town north east of the city.

Odeon Cinema Preston is the name on the building, and the walk from the centre is the thing that separates it from the city-centre screen.

Preston cinema provision splits between two multiplexes and one out-of-town complex, and this is the one on the western approaches.

Comparisons that review Preston's two cinemas come down to catchment rather than to the screens: the central one takes the station-side and shopping-street trade on foot, and the Riversway one takes the drive-in trade from the western approaches.

Anyone comparing the two central options should note that this is a directory entry, and no review: commercial venues are not ranked against each other here.

Where the Preston cinema screens are, and why

Near-central is a distinct position, and it is the one that has aged best. Far enough out for a surface car park, close enough that the walk into the middle is real, it needs neither the centre's rents nor an out-of-town catchment to fill. That is the compromise most English cities of this size settled on in the 1990s, and it is why the near-centre sites are the ones still trading while several fully central ones are not.

This is the second of the two multiplexes on or near the centre, which is more screen provision than a city of Preston's size would normally hold. The explanation is the catchment, and never the population: Preston draws from South Ribble, Leyland, Chorley and the Fylde, so the audience within half an hour is several times the city's own.

Getting there, and the alternatives

Near-central is a different proposition from central: reachable on foot from the middle of the city, but far enough out that most people drive. The genuinely central option is Vue; the independent alternative is the Palace at Longridge, and the out-of-town complex is the Flower Bowl at Barton.

Two multiplexes, and the difference is the walk from the city centre

Odeon Cinema Preston is one of two multiplexes within a mile of each other, which is unusual for a city of this size, and the difference between them is almost entirely the walk. One sits inside the shopping streets; Odeon Preston sits a short walk out, on the western side, which puts it closer to the residential approaches and further from the station.

That distance decides the audience more than the screens do. A visitor arriving by train takes the central one without thinking about it; a household driving in from Ashton or the Fylde side takes this one, because the parking is easier and the approach avoids the one-way system. Neither is a better cinema than the other, and the search data suggests people pick by geography rather than by programme. Odeon Cinema Preston is also the one the western suburbs reach without crossing the centre, and for anyone searching Odeon Preston from that side of the city that is the whole answer.

The third option is not in the city at all: the complex at Barton takes the out-of-town trade with bowling and food attached, which is a different kind of outing altogether. Between them the three cover the whole of Preston cinema demand: two central screens and one out-of-town complex, which is more provision per head than most cities of this size carry.

What is nearby

Near-central means most people drive but the walk into the middle is real. From the commercial core the markets, the Harris and the Flag Market are all inside a few hundred metres of each other, and the Victorian parks begin at the southern edge of them.

The genuinely central screen is Vue; the out-of-town complex is the Flower Bowl at Barton, and the independent is the Palace at Longridge.