This is topic Closing concession stands in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 08-21-2001, 11:17 AM:
I'm interested in the reports of customers coming up to a stand after it is closed and being refused service or given it begrudgingly.Let's stop and consider. Most stands have more than one station and more than one candy and cup stock. Closing a stand is a convenience to the manager for inventory and a convenience for setting a single "clean till it shines" point. Neither is required, and there are in fact many food service businesses that never close.
Set one selling station up with a small fixed amount of stock and cups. Count it for inventory purposes. Lock it until general clean-up time. Sell and stock as normal during the day except for this one station. At clean-up time close all other registers and open this one with a fresh bank. Inventory as normal. All sales and stock changes for the close-out stand are included in the next day's inventory and receipts.
Customers can get goods, the stand can make money, and there is no disruption of inventory or cleaning other than one set of drink heads and one warmer get cleaned at the start of the day rather than the close. The point isn't the few bucks as much as it is customer satisfaction and repeat sales. Such a stand could even remain open for exiting customers. We've killed off a good source of income in the name of convenience to the managers and workers.
Please don't let bean-counters and tradition rule over common sense.
Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 08-21-2001, 12:05 PM:
Here we lock up the registers but we leave a drawer out so that the closing concession person can make after hour sales (Employees are encourage to memorize all the prices). They just write down everything that they sell, use the spare drawer to make change, and everything gets rung in the following morning. When we are doing inventory, we just look on the note pad to see what was sold and count it.
Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 08-21-2001, 10:03 PM:
Then again...Vending machines can suffice for this type of sale too without employee expense. Steve
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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 08-22-2001, 01:28 AM:
We have 6 stations at each stand, and we always close a few stations at a time during breaks & shift changes. The lines always get longer, but that's to be expected. But if we have both sides of our lobby concessions open, we close a whole side down during a shift change so that we can pop more popcorn, get the evening banks counted, and have each shift do inventory. This usually ends up being effecient enough to get the stations counted accurately.The problem we have is when we only open one side. Then, if I even attempt to go count the other side's stations so we can open that side later, people will get curious & think that I'm running the entire stand & ask for food. We have plenty of closed signs, and you would think that the lack of people on that half of the lobby would clue them in! But no....
Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 08-22-2001, 09:51 AM:
Steve G. : I've loaded and serviced vending machines in theatres. Except for cello-wrapped candy, I will NEVER buy anything from a theatre vending machine. Gag me with a stick, I'll starve first.
Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 08-22-2001, 03:56 PM:
We close our concession stand 15 minutes after the last film starts. Some of our kids are under 18 and they have to leave by 10:00 PM. After they leave the mangager usualy stays in the lobby. If a person comes up and wants a candy or an icecream then we sell it to them. But everything else is put away and cleaned. I would say we sell an item after hours once every two weeks. We barely sell anything for the 9:00 PM show as it is.
Posted by Joshua Voorhies (Member # 824) on 08-22-2001, 10:27 PM:
While I'm all for customer service, I think after-hours sales are overated. If I had to guess how much money got turned away on a *busy* Friday or Saturday night, I'd say it's about $20-$40. The people that come after hours are not exactly the big-spenders; they're usually getting a piece of candy at best, or trying to score free popcorn at worst. (Yes, we're throwing the popcorn away. No you can't have any for free).On Friday and Saturday nights, we basically put the theatre in "lock-down." We close off the lobby 15 to 30 minutes after the last show (when the customers are gone). This is a must for security reasons at my theatre. Unfortunately, it means no after-hours sales.
Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 08-23-2001, 12:27 AM:
How many of you work for theaters that offer pop and popcorn refills? Looking at it form a customer's point of view, why should they get penalized for comming to a later show? One of the ways I try to justify the high concession prices to the customers is that they are entitled to these refills free or otherwise. So in my opinion we are cheating these customers if we close the concession stands before their movie gets out.
Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 08-23-2001, 01:31 AM:
We leave a bin of popcorn on the warmer for late refills. It stays fresh for the two hours or so after closing, and the day crew throws it out. We only refil large soft drinks & popcorns, so the bin doesn't go empty on refills at any time of the day.
Posted by Christopher M. Belch (Member # 846) on 08-23-2001, 09:46 PM:
We used to give pop refills, but recently we stopped that...boy are a lot of people pissed!!! Management just doesn't realize that we really didnt give away that much pop, and the hassle of fighting customers isn't worth it...but hey, if they can save ten cents!!!! I just dont get it, keep the customer happy, they will reward you. And at $2.50 for a 16 oz cup...the theater can afford it!!!
Posted by Joshua Voorhies (Member # 824) on 08-24-2001, 04:11 AM:
I think free refills are an awesome way to boost revenue.
At my theatre, the concessionists pitch the free refills when they upsell customers to the large size. A customer will pay $.25 more for the large over the medium. Even if the customer actually does come back for a refill, the theatre loses maybe $.10 of product, leaving it with a profit of $.15.
Popcorn is even better: the large costs $1 over the medium. The refilled popcorn inside might cost $.10. And while many people think they'll be back for a refill, most don't.
Posted by Sherry Legare (Member # 671) on 09-02-2001, 01:20 PM:
I don't think "free refills" does much to boost sales. Most people don't buy the larger size for the refill, they would buy it anyway because they want the larger size, and take the refill only because it is offered. If anything, in some cases offering refills can lose sales. A couple that ordinarily would buy 2 medium popcorn ($6.00) will decide to share a large popcorn instead ($4.00). Or a family that might buy a small popcorn for each of their kids will buy one for everyone to share then try and get extra small bags.
Refills are nothing but a hassle - having to mark bags that have been refilled, having to take the extra few seconds each transaction to tell people there is a free refill on their popcorn until such and such a time, tying up concession line-ups with those that have finished their popcorn before the shows have even started and want a refill, and having to keep the concession open late to accomodate those few people that might actually decide to get their refill. Many people don't want to leave their shows for a refill and will just get it on their way out of the movie to take home for later.
It was a stupid and unnecessary thing that should never have been put into place, and it is unfortunate that most theatres have to do it to compete with the other theatres in the area that do offer refills.
Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 09-02-2001, 01:51 PM:
Using that logic, then, why do we offer digital sound and stadium seating? It only costs the theater operator more to build, and besides, customers flocked to theaters for 95 years without either.The purpose of free refills is to get a particular target audience (read: teens who spend lots of money) to return to the concession stand for their free refill and leave the concession stand with that refill and maybe a $3 bag of candy. Popcorn and soda have such a low cost per serving that it's worth it in the long run placed against the supplemental sales it creates.
If you're snack bar attendants aren't suggesting additional items when they give a free refill, then you're not using the marketing tool the way it was meant to be used.
And there are many ways to work around the extra traffic at the concession stand, without remodeling or increasing payroll costs.
Posted by Sherry Legare (Member # 671) on 09-04-2001, 09:29 AM:
As a matter of fact, our theatres don't offer stadium seating or digital sound and we still out-perform the theatres in the area that do.Our concession attendants do suggestive sell to people coming out for refills, but 99% of them just want to get their refill and get back into their movie.
Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 09-08-2001, 08:35 PM:
The only problem I have with offering free refills is when you get people pulling old containers out of the trash and trying to get refills (and it isn't only kids that do this).
Posted by Brian Hogan (Member # 940) on 09-08-2001, 10:16 PM:
we offer free refills on the large corn, but not on the drink. i guess the idea being that they are gonna go through the extra corn and realize they need more pop so they need to buy another pop. this is why i just bring my own snacks to the flick.
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 09-10-2001, 11:52 AM:
The Garden Theatre in Princeton NJ posts this sign on its concession stand: "Closed 15 Minutes After Last Show Starts".This newly refurbished arthouse must have taken a cue from Ian. All Ian has to do to return the favor is install stadium seating in his arthouse. 
Posted by Kristin Wahlund (Member # 922) on 09-19-2001, 05:11 PM:
We close our stand when we are finishes cleaning, usually 15- 20 mins after the last show starts. Then everyone goes home. When we say close we mean close.