CLAREMONT — The ticket sales at a recent midweek matinee at Claremont Cinema 6 provided an indication why the theater is closing at the end of the month.

The theater had five showtimes with seating of 150 to 225 for each and starting times between 4 p.m. to 4:20 on a Wednesday afternoon.

Total tickets sold: 4.

No one had purchased tickets for “Abigail,” “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” or “Civil War.”

A father with his two children scurried in at the last moment to see “Ghostbusters Unfrozen Empire.”

Mike Myers, of Claremont, had the theater to himself to watch “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.”

“Very disappointed, but not really surprised,” Myers said when asked about the plans to close. “I come once a week, and I’m literally the only person in the theater now for a while.”

Claremont Cinema 6 owners, Your Neighborhood Theatres in Massachusetts, announced Monday the six-screen cinema would close later this month, giving those with gift cards a last chance to use them.

“It is with heavy hearts that we announce that Claremont Cinema will be closing our door permanently on Monday, May 27th,” the company statement read. “We have been part of the Claremont Community for nearly 30 years and the decision was a difficult one to make.”

The Claremont Marketplace Plaza is owned by the Market Basket grocery store chain, headquartered in Tewksbury, Mass. It includes a TJ Maxx and ATT store.

Messages left for the company were not immediately returned.

Movie theaters continue to shut down around the country, battered by the aftermath of the pandemic and changing viewing habits.

Last month, Regal Cinema closed its theater on Loudon Road in Concord as part of the planned redevelopment of the Steeplechase Mall. The seven-screen movie house had operated for 28 years.

Regal announced last year it would close 39 theaters across the U.S. after its parent company filed for bankruptcy.

When Cinema 6 opened in 1997, the city did not have a movie theater, as the last one had closed several years earlier. Its closing may mark the end of cinema history in Claremont that goes back at least 100 years, when the Latchis Theatre opened on Pleasant Street and the Tremont Theatre on Tremont Street in the 1920s.

The Latchis operated until the 1980s and fell into disrepair after closing. The auditorium was demolished in the late 1990s to make way for a parking lot and the front portion — which retained the marquee — was converted into apartments.

The Tremont, with one screen and seating for 450, closed in the late 1940s.

The Magnet Theatre opened on Sullivan Street next to what used to be the Eagle Times and today is the Sullivan House.

A fire in 1977 destroyed most of The Magnet, which was later demolished.

The Claremont Opera House also offered movies for a time.

On Washington Street, a drive-in theater operated from around 1950 to 1987 before being torn down and replaced with a Kmart store, which is now Hobby Lobby. Cinema Triplex also operated on Washington Street until the early 1990s.

Terri Beam, Cinema 6’s general manager since 2019, said she was not shocked by the closing announcement.

“Declining sales,” Beam said, adding that there have been discussions as of late about the theater’s viability long term.

Beam and Jeremy Kovacs, of Claremont, who was selling tickets at the concession counter Wednesday, said that after the success of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” last year, the audience numbers dropped sharply, particularly during the week.

“It just feels like there have been no good movies to come out,” Kovacs said.

Streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ have made it increasingly difficult for theaters to attract customers, Beam said.

Still, some are drawn to the experience of going to the show.

“I have access to all that stuff,” Myers, the loyal Cinema 6 customer, said of streaming. “But I love being in the theater and talking about movies. This is like the last of the old school theaters with the seating. Being able to come here and experience that is like a throwback. When the lights go down, it is like magic.”

Myers said he plans to go to Springfield. Vt., now to watch movies. Other options closest to Claremont are the Nugget in Hanover and Entertainment Cinemas in Lebanon.

Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.