This is topic Antique seats (getting rid of) in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-05-2000, 05:12 PM:
Has anybody had any experience unloading old seats? I have some from a recent remodeling and wonder the best way to get rid of them (short of landfill).Since they're certified antiques (70 years old and in pretty good shape), I wonder if Ebay is the way to go? Have never sold anything on there myself.
Any reports from the field would be appreciated. (or offers.)
Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 08-05-2000, 06:03 PM:
Put a want ad in the local newspaper. Maybe start the wording off with something like this: "Real theater seats for your home theater! Own a piece of history in your home".
Posted by Russ Kress (Member # 461) on 08-05-2000, 10:52 PM:
Good luck!!When our seven-plex in Charleston, WV was retrofitted to an all stadium eleven plex the original plan was to sell the old, recently refurbished Citations. They were in excellent shape and had extra padding installed when they were re-covered.
This plan quickly deteriorated into, "Russ! Figure out how to get them to the dump!" We had run out of room to store them and the contractor wanted them outta there.
If you have a local university or college, give them a call. W.V. State took every single one of ours off our hands. They even came and got them.
The old seats really were in good shape and it was nice to see them go to a good cause. Way nicer than driving a dump truck to the landfill every day for the rest of my natural life!
The local media even picked up the story and we were philanthropists!
The "own a real seat" idea is a neat one. It might not do the trick if you need to move large quantities though.
As I stated before...
Good luck (and 1-800-GO U-HAUL)!!
(If that's not U-Haul's number, it should be!)
Russ
Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 08-06-2000, 06:45 PM:
Forget about it. We are sitting (literally) on nearly 10 thousand citations. We couldnt sell them at $3 a piece. No one wants old seats. Right now people want new seats to sit in. And the prices are not that bad if you shop around. If you dont want to pay for storage, just get rid of them as fast as you can.Dave
Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-09-2000, 12:22 PM:
Thanks for the input guys. I was never thinking about selling these to another theatre... there's no way a modern audience would put up with them! I thought maybe somebody had experience selling old seats on ebay...I saw ONE old seat on there once go for $150!
Posted by Wayne Cope (Member # 437) on 09-01-2000, 10:48 PM:
Amateur live theatre organizations often use hand-me-down seating. Might want to include the phone numbers of a couple of outfits that refurbish seats, altho people who are willing to put in the time can do it all themselves!My own experience with fixing up deluxe model vintage cinema seats is pretty good. Infrequently we find a seat support spring has broken (not the ones inside the seat bottom, oddly enough) and regarding pads, upholstery, etc, you tend to get what you pay for, either in time or money!
Posted by Matt Ashburn (Member # 573) on 09-04-2000, 02:44 PM:
Give Premier Seating a try. They manufacture new seats, but they also have been known to reburbish seats, and they may want your old ones. I think they also strip old theatres for the used equipment. They're great people to work with, and the founder (Paul) is a heck of a nice guy.Premier's website is http://www.premierseating.com/ and their phone # is 888-456-SEAT(7328).
-Matt Ashburn,
Hollywood Cinema
Martinsvile, VA
Posted by Matt Ashburn (Member # 573) on 09-04-2000, 02:48 PM:
On the topic of Citations, on their "restoration" page, Premier has a before & after shot of two Citation seats. Pretty imprssive.
http://www.premierseating.com/htmlcode/restoration.html -Matt Ashburn
Hollywood Cinema
Martinsville, VA
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 10-26-2000, 01:24 PM:
You could do a Ticket draw for one every night. Some people would love to have one or two of them for their video rooms.
Mark