This family-run multiplex at the beach still sells candy for $1 and has free popcorn tub refills

When it came time to pay for her family's movie candy and popcorn at Rehoboth Beach's Movies at Midway, vacationing Christy Allman did a double-take.

The Virginia woman had just purchased snacks for her husband and daughter before seeing "Frozen 2" when she heard the grand total was $12. She froze.

"I'm shocked. I didn't look at the prices and thought he made a mistake," said Allman, of Manassas, Virginia. "When he told me the price, I was like, 'What?!?' This would have been more than $20 in northern Virginia."

Even though the 13-screen multiplex has stadium seating and added a 58-foot movie screen with Dolby Atmos surround sound two years ago, Movies at Midway is a throwback for both welcoming experiences and your pocketbook.

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Run by Tiffany Derrickson, a third-generation theater owner, Movies at Midway isn't just a family business — the theater is extended family.

It's the kind of place where you can find Elsie McGurgan taking tickets from customers at the age of 80, knowing many by name and beaming as if each tiny movie fan were a grandchild of her own.

And it goes both ways.

Some regulars greet McGurgan by name as well, catching up on family news with the Long Neck resident and wishing her a happy holiday season.

For her part, McGurgan is used to seeing vacationers' surprised reactions to the cheap candy prices because she spent years working the concessions counter before taking tickets.

The 15-year employee remembers one over-excited customer vividly: "When he heard the price, he said, 'Give me one of everything!' I couldn't believe it." 

As current concession worker Shelby Covington of Lewes puts it, "Northerners like it the most."

An independent theater doing things its way

In a modern world where massive movie theater chains own the market — AMC, Regal and Cinemark control 50% of the 41,000 screens in the country, according to Variety magazine — smaller family-run theaters are mostly squeezed out.

And tracking down an indie family-run theater as large and as successful as Movies at Midway is about as hard as finding a little girl who isn't excited about the opening of "Frozen 2."

"There are still mom-and-pop theaters out there, but not many," says Derrickson, who leans into the uniqueness of her theater. "They keep challenging us."

Derrickson only recently relented and allowed credit cards to be used at the formerly cash-only concessions counter. And while new ticket kiosks were illuminated during a recent visit, signs warned that they were not yet ready for their debut, leading to a line at the outdoor ticket counter.

Even so, it's hard to find anyone complaining. This is their hometown theater, and it's unlike any other in the state.

Dollar Tree's arrival spawns $1 movie candy

When a Dollar Tree store opened in Midway Shopping Center more than a dozen years ago and Derrickson saw more and more customers buying candy there and smuggling sweets into the theater, she didn't hire candy security to crack down.

Instead, she decided to change her own business, swapping her larger, more expensive movie candy for more standard-sized offerings, which are still a steal at $1 a pop.

She says the move worked due to the volume of business at her theater. "Plus, if they buy it here, they're more likely to buy popcorn or a drink. It all worked out," she adds.

These days, Derrickson is considering adding a few $2 offerings because some traditional theater candy items such as Sno-Caps are not available in standard sizes.

Candy prices aren't the only things keeping people coming back: Movies at Midway also allows free refills when it comes to its $8 butter-your-own tubs of popcorn and $3 fountain drinks.

It's part of the goal of keeping the moviegoing experience affordable for families, whether they're vacationing for a weekend or live here year-round.

Local customers get the most out of the theater thanks to its community-supporting efforts, including a current campaign to raise $500,000 for the Beebe Medical Foundation and Beebe Healthcare.

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A portion of the proceeds from every tub of popcorn goes toward the five-year "Buckets for Beebe" fundraiser.

"It's a big commitment for us, but as a family-run theater, we believe in supporting our community and giving back," Derrickson says.

History of movies at Midway

The relationship between Midway and its customers dates back more than 60 years to when the Midway Drive-In first opened.

In 1953, the highway drive-in at the newly-built Midway Shopping Center was the third theater owned by Tiffany Derrickson's grandfather William, who had already opened a pair of theaters on Rehoboth Avenue: Avenue Theatre in 1941 and Center Theatre in 1946.

In the beginning, the drive-in "had room for up to 400 cars, but it also offered what was called an 'open air auditorium' for those who wanted to view the film outside of an automobile," writes Michael Nazarewycz, author of "Historic Movie Theaters of Delaware" (The History Press, $21.99), which was released in February.

Eleven years later in 1965, William's sons Donald and Richard, who is Tiffany's father, opened Midway Palace. The single-screen 850-person theater was replaced and expanded, opening as Movies at Midway in 1999.

And that's where you'll find McGurgan every week, taking tickets with a smile and giving the customers' trip to the movies a feel of visiting grandma's house.

For the record, she feels it, too.

"I love it here. I really do," says McGurgan, who is allowed to see all the movies she wants for free, just like all Movies at Midway employees. "It's a family, but everyone's in the family."

Got a tip? Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).