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.
Could it be they were trying to make it attractive for purchase by
another drive-in theatre owner or chain?
Bill Sutherland
Tucson
----- Original Message -----
From: "George Cohn" <gwcohn@...>
To: <vanishingtucson@...>
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 12:26 PM
Subject: Re: RE: [vanishingtucson] DeAnza
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
