Elizabeth wrote:
We went to the DeAnza tonight. While we were there, I was thinking
about things they could do to increase profits.
You have to understand, the name of the company is the DeAnza LAND and Leisure Corp. They have no interest in running the drive-in long term. It's just a land-holding venture for them until the property can turn a tidy profit.
The theater has been on the market several times a year for at least the last 6 years. When my friend, Jim Goble, from Denver tried to buy it in late 1999, it was for sale for $1.3 million. Unfortunately his financing fell apart at the last minute and the deal failed. He wanted to run it as a drive-in because he owns the Cinderella Twin in Aurora CO and the Starlite Twin in Witchita KS.
Another suggestion to them, would be to BBQ some nice smelly burgers
outside (to lure people to the snackbar)
They did that for a couple of years. Just stopped last year, I think. It was great with the smell of hot hamburgers wafting across the lots.
and to get better popcorn butter and possibly figure out a way to get the
popcorn smell to spread.
Agreed. The machine has a problem and often burns the popcorn and the butter is downright nasty once in a while.
Or they could invite in food peddlers, like catering vans, to
set up next to the snack bar for a fee.
You have to understand that the movie business is not a money-maker if you rely on the boxoffice. The booker often gets 80% or more of the gate for the films so the only real opportunity for profit is the snackbar. After all, selling 15 cents worth of popped corn in a $4.75 bag is real profit.
Think of a movie theater as a restaraunt that happens to show films and you have the proper business concept.
I asked the snack bar lady if they had a website, and she said no, that
she wished they had one. I was going to offer these suggestions to the
manager, but he wasn't around. Maybe if any of you know the manager or
have the email addy for people in charge over there, you could let them
know the suggestions.
Mike Cecil is the manager and I know him well. The DeAnza folks just aren't interested in anything that would make the theater survive. That's why I was pleasantly suprised early this summer to hear that they were spending over $20,000 on the place to upgrade the projection and paint and fix it up.
Imagine my surprise when I was told that shortly after they did that, they listed it again for sale.
I'm a member of drive-ins @ yahoo groups and we talk about this every day. Many of the the other members are drive-in owners and they admit that it's a labor of love and not something to get rich quick on.
And that's the real crux of the situation there. If the DeAnza was owned by a local family or small group, they could easily turn enough profit to keep it open. I'm not privy to the books but I'm betting that you could make $100K after taxes every year if it was run and promoted properly. That's not much but it would be a great venture for someone who enjoys the business.
If you have $2.4 million burning a hole in your pocket, go for it. After all, in another 20 years, the land will probably be worth $10 million and you could have a lot of fun during those 20 years.
George Cohn
Tucson AZ
