The operation of a concession stand in the drive-in of the 90s is necessarily more exacting than it was 40 years ago. Drive-in operators now have high-quality, low cost competition from national chains of fast food restaurants to contend with. The drive-in's advantage of having a captive audience for concession sales is worthless if the quality of merchandise and speed of service is lacking. In other words, value for the customer's money is the primary factor in the success of today's concession stand. If the concession is not top notch, the theatre will most definitely fail.
THINK 'RESTAURANT'
Consider the operation of a drive-in theatre as a restaurant.
Contrary
to popular belief,
theatres see little of the money that is taken in at the boxoffice;
film companies get the
lion's share. Concession sales are literally the theatre's bread and
butter. If the entire
theatre operation is kept foremost in mind as primarily a restaurant
business, for
which movies are shown as added entertainment, then the financial
success of the operation
as a whole can better be served.
Quality, service and value are the first rules of operation. Prospective or current operators should keep this burned firmly in mind, directly under the word "restaurant". Cleanliness of the building and equipment is not only required by state and local health codes, but it is very much a mental factor in customer's minds. It can mean the difference between making sales or not. Appearance means everything.
A concession stand today is competing for consumer dollars with places like McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Burger King. Sure, they don't show movies, but the operation IS a restaurant, right? The drive-in concession should be no different. Concentrate on serving high quality meats and products, cooking and preparation methods, and achieveing and high degree of consistency. Nothing is worse than not being able to count of what kind of food you're going to get when you make a purchase. Many theatres today are stereotypically viewed as having seedy or low-quality foods for sale. However, there are those who have developed reputations over the years has having the best cheeseburgers and fries in town! It goes without saying that these particular outlets are prospering.
As a primer to concession stand layout, additional articles will be found describing two different styles and methods of operation. These two methods, station and cafeteria style, have been used extensively in drive-ins as the primary means for servicing customers. You will also find thoughts about suggested changes to these systems, to enable concessions to compete in the 90s market.