Cafeteria-Style Concession Stands

A cafeteria system will give the drive-in operator great opportunity for sales because it allows him to do more gross business in a shorter selling time with its quick self-service type of operation.

Under a cafeteria system, more purchases per person may be chalked up because all the items on sale are presented to the view of th epublic, and no person can go through the cafeteria line to buy what he originally had in mind on his way to the stand without being exposed visually and physically to all the other items which are offered for sale. There is definite proof that when people are so exposed to a wide variety of items, they will inevitably pick some of them up. The same open displays and mass merchandising techniques which the Woolworth Company used so successfully are equally effective in a cafeteria system in attracting customer interest and increasing sales.

LESS SKILLED HELP
Under a station system type of refreshment operation, each attendant is a food preparer, server, and cashier. Only skilled help are able to perform all three tasks quickly.

In a cafeteria system, however, trained food preparers are needed to fix the food, but the food servers need not be skilled personnel. They are merely helpers who bring the food from preparation areas to the display and selling points and assist the public in picking the food up. Although the cashiers must be skilled help also, all of the service, as pointed out above, can be done by untrained help, who may be easily used in other jobs around the theatre during "off" periods.

PREPARATION AND SERVICE APART
With the cafeteria system, it is possible to separate the food preparation area from the service areas. Cleanliness can be enforced in areas where food preparation is done, the view of which can be entirely hidden through proper layout. The area where the customer is actually served and which he principally sees is always full of food that is tempting and appetizing. Any glance toward the rear of the area or elsewhere in the immediate vicinity will convey an an impression of orderly cleanliness.

The distinct separation of food preparation and service aids operating efficiency also by enabling the customer to pick up exactly what he wants, travel down a steadily moving line, pay for his merchandise, and leave promptly. People can serve themselves faster than they could be served, so the only limit to the operating speed of a cafeteria system lies in the equipment used and the rapidity with which the cashiers handle the money.

CUSTOMER GOODWILL
There is nothing that enrages a customer more than being shoved around or having somebody else served out of turn and ahead of him at a counter. A Cafeteria system eliminates such injustices because each customer is served quickly and efficiently at his place in line.

EQUIPMENT FAILURES LESS FATAL
If a piece of equipment breaks down in a complete or split-station system, that station must be closed and customers redirected to others, thus causing a great deal of confusion, annoyance, and loss of business. Under a cafeteria system, since food preparation is centralized, stocks of previously prepared food can be diverted from one selling area to another without interrupting the flow of traffic.

Even if the supply of an item where there has been an absolute failure of equipment runs out, a contingency which can also occur under a station system, its mere absence from the cafeteria counter will serve notice that it is no longer for sale, and there will be little need for embarrassing explanations of the situation.

SPACE REQUIREMENTS
It is important to realize that a cafeteria system will not necessarily occupy less space than a station system. As a matter of fact, a cafeteria system properly laid out and properly executed should use more space to get its maximum effectiveness. However, oftentimes in small theatres it is possible to set up a much more efficient cafeteria system in the smaller spaces than could possibly be achieved with the station system. For example, a 30' counter will suffice for a two-lane cafeteria that can serve almost as many people as a 50' two-lane cafeteria. Of course, it is not possible to obtain as much flexibility and mobility for change to introduce new items.

It is extremely difficult to present innovations without adequate space and plenty of room behind the counter for the personnel to move in. Speed, efficiency, and good operation are the prime objectives to be sought always.

DETERMINATION OF SIZE
It is difficult to determine exactly what size cafeteria should be used in a particular drive-in, but here is a rule-of-thumb outline: 500 cars or less, two-lane cafeteria; 500 to 800 cars, two or four lanes optional; 700 to 800 cars, four lanes highly recommended; 800 to 1,200 cars, four lanes mandatory.

This guide can, of course, be qualified in certain cases. For example, a 250-car drie-in can operate a one-lane cafeteria very efficiently, but a properly designed and properly executed drive-in theatre refreshment stand can, using basic equipment, have a two-lane cafeteria for only a few hundred dollars more in equipment costs than a one-lane cafeteria with the same number of personnel. For that reason, the two-lane cafeteria is recommended for even the smallest of drive-ins.

There is one further point which should be brought out regarding the above table. There are a great many operators who have built a 500-car theatre and then wished they had a 1,000-car theatre, and vice-versa. There have been some 1,000-car theatres which could handle the amount of business available to them with the 500-car plan. However, a theatre is built for a certain number of cars with the expectation of doing a definite volume of business. By the same token, the refreshment area should be designed to harmonize with the theatre's anticipated patronage.

A notable advantage of a four-lane cafeteria, designed for a 1,000-car drive-in, lies in the fact that on those days where there are only two, three, or four hundred cars in the theatre, only two lanes need be operated. Thus, it is important to design a refreshment stand layout in such a way that either two or four lanes can be operated; by doing so, payroll costs may be reduced considerably, and efficiency can be maintained, even with less than peak loads in the theatre.

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