The Marcus Corporation is an American publicly traded company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company operates two principal divisions: Marcus Theatres and Marcus Hotels and Resorts.
History
Marcus Corporation was founded on November 1, 1935 by Ben Marcus with the purchase of a single movie theatre screen in Ripon, Wisconsin. This movie theatre remains with Marcus as a first run theater, the Campus Cinema (near Ripon College), with titles appealing to both adults and families. It was also a restaurant franchisee, operating the Marc's Big Boy affiliate of the Big Boy Restaurants chain and serving as the Milwaukee area franchise for Kentucky Fried Chicken. Marcus sold the KFC franchises by 1992 and closed the last Marc's in 1995.
One of the company's principal assets, Baymont Inn & Suites, was sold to La Quinta Corporation in 2003. Marcus Cable, which merged in 1998 with Charter Communications, was founded by a member of the Marcus family, but held no direct corporate connection to Marcus Corporation itself.