Last Thursday, Washington residents got quite the shock when Carmike Cinema 7 closed its doors.

In operation for decades, the movie theater, which is located in Washington Square Mall, was the only commercial theater in the county and brought in patrons from outside the county, as well.

“We thank you all for the concerns for our employees,” a Cinema 7 Facebook post reads. “They were offered jobs at Greenville Carmike, so some have transferred to there, a couple have other jobs and we were a part-time extra for them, and a couple are searching for new opportunities.”

“We weren’t given a specific answer. We were just told that the lease was up this month,” theater manager Stoney Crouse said. “The theater itself was doing good. … It wasn’t horrible business for the theater.”

Crouse said the theater made significant improvements in the last year, including an increase in patrons, decreasing payroll, working on utility costs and winning two movie-promotion awards. The theater was also among the top-10 performing theaters in its district.

She said Carmike was concerned how the employees would react to such news, but the people employed there continued to work hard up until the very last day.

“None of my employees left me, and nobody slacked off,” Crouse said. “We were like, ‘That’s not how we are.’”

Many people have expressed disappointment over the theater’s closing, according to Crouse. She said she was disappointed that it happened right before Christmas.

“Our Facebook announcement as of (Monday) morning had over 43,000 views,” she said. “A lot of people were shocked. A lot of people are nervous because so many other things seem to be closing at the same time.”

Along with Carmike, Sears and Piggly Wiggly are nearing the end of their leases and are expected to close soon.

Crouse said she is now looking to reopen the theater under a new, independent company — potentially by the beginning of 2017.

Although she can’t give details of the contract under works, she said she wants to bring as many of the former employees back to work as possible.

Crouse said some of the residents and business owners are considering a plan that places more emphasis on local businesses — and keeping that business from going to Greenville.

“It’s kind of scary timing,” Crouse said. “I know a lot of people are a little bit worried about Washington.”

If everything works out as planned, however, Washington can tentatively expect to see the return of a movie theater to town, according to Crouse.

“We’re all excited about it,” she said.