Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Does bottled water sell?

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Posted by Katie Smith (Member # 1594) on 06-02-2004, 08:07 PM:

My theater will soon be selling bottled water, the first of anything bottled. The price will be more than a small drink and I assume it will be a 20 oz bottle.
I am just wondering how well bottled water sells for any of you? and how do your prices on the water compare to a cup of pop?

Posted by Floyd Justin Newton (Member # 1316) on 06-02-2004, 08:27 PM:

....HUH......!?

fjn
Local 294 Ret.

Posted by Jennifer Pan (Member # 2035) on 06-02-2004, 08:58 PM:

It sells more than the other bottled stuff at my theater. More than Nestea, Minute Maid Lemonaid, and Minute Maid Fruit Punch. We also sale larger bottles of water, I think its a 32oz. The 20oz cost more than our small cup drinks. The 32oz. bottled water cost the same price as our large cup drink.

Posted by Ky Boyd (Member # 23) on 06-02-2004, 09:00 PM:

We sell bottled water by the ton in our 5 plex, typically going through a couple of cases a day and sometimes during a really busy rush. Ya gotta love bottled water. It's not sticky when people spill it. It doesn't need carbonation. And you don't have to stock cups for it. I'd say stock up!

Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 06-02-2004, 09:33 PM:

440 ml water = $1.60
420 ml coke = $1.40

sells well to mostly women

Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 06-02-2004, 11:25 PM:

quote:
....HUH......!?

What don't you understand?

Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 06-03-2004, 12:58 AM:

We sell Dasani (the Coca Cola brand of Bottled water), and we get either $1.25 or $1.50 for a 20oz. bottle. Huge profit item.

The warmer the weather gets, the faster it sells... but then, I'm running an outdoor (Drive-In) theatre too.

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 06-03-2004, 01:32 AM:

Be careful; bottled water is drug paraphernalia, & selling it will get you shut down under the federal crack house law:

"Jordan claimed that the fact that bottled water sold at the Palace's concession stand was "overpriced" was proof that it was in fact drug paraphernalia."

http://www.nationalreview.com/kopel/kopel043001.shtml

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 06-03-2004, 01:37 AM:

As for Dasani, you'd have trouble giving it away here.

There was a massive shemozzle when it emerged that the stuff is processed bogstandard tap water, and not natural mineral water (for example, this story). Things then went from bad to worse following a health scare, and eventually Dasani was withdrawn from sale.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 06-03-2004, 02:28 AM:

We get the 24 oz "Arrowhead" brand bottles from our local Costco, and store it in a (former) bottled juice cooler, which keeps it at around 36 degrees or so. We get $1.50/bottle for it... just about the next best thing to popcorn... blows me away how well this stuff sells.

Posted by R. Andrew Diercks (Member # 1725) on 06-03-2004, 08:41 AM:

We sold 7+ cases of bottled water this weekend at my 9 plex. Ours is Aquafina 20oz. and sells for $1.75, our small soda sells for $2.50.

Ignore the signature, I was transferred to a new theatre and my profile has yet to be updated.

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 06-03-2004, 08:43 AM:

Dasani sells great at Lakeville cause people are too posh for the drinking fountain [Smile]

which tastes pretty damn good to me, I've found that the Dasani actually gets a stale taste more quickly once it's been opened.

20 oz: $2.50
1 litre: $3.00

Yes, people do pay that much for it.

Posted by Jim Bedford (Member # 4) on 06-03-2004, 10:32 AM:

Up here at the Nugget Theatre in Telluride at the top of the water chain where we have some of the best tap water in the world, we charge $2 for a 20 oz. bottle of Arrowhead water (that we buy for about $.15 each). Mind you, even tho we have free water in a cooler and our water service from the town provides more than 2000 gallons for $2, many people continue to buy water without a blink for as much as they pay for a gallon of gas. Go figure....

Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 06-03-2004, 10:35 AM:

$1.75 for a 20. oz bottle water here. Sells like crazy. But stupid Pepsi keeps sending the wrong kind. [Mad]

Posted by Jim Bedford (Member # 4) on 06-03-2004, 10:36 AM:

Up here at the Nugget Theatre in Telluride at the top of the water chain where we have some of the best tap water in the world, we charge $2 for a 20 oz. bottle of Arrowhead water (that we buy for about $.15 each). Mind you, even tho we have free water in a cooler and our water service from the town provides more than 2000 gallons for $2, many people continue to buy water without a blink for as much as they pay for a gallon of gas. Go figure....

Posted by Rob Butler (Member # 2274) on 06-03-2004, 11:37 AM:

quote: Jeremy Fuentes
$1.75 for a 20. oz bottle water here. Sells like crazy. But stupid Pepsi keeps sending the wrong kind.

If it's still 2 parts Hydrogen and one part Oxygen, how can it be the wrong kind?

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 06-03-2004, 11:43 AM:

It's all in the taste. Bottled waters live or die by the tiny amounts of minerals desolved in them, as opposed to distilled water, which is (or supposed to be) pure water. It's all in the taste.

Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 06-03-2004, 11:59 AM:

quote: Rob Butler
If it's still 2 parts Hydrogen and one part Oxygen, how can it be the wrong kind?

They keep sending us tap water in old Pepsi bottles. [Big Grin]

Posted by Michael Harlow (Member # 1353) on 06-03-2004, 05:43 PM:

I sell water at my cinema. 500ml for 60p. I sell about 100 bottles a week on average.

Posted by Kyle Watkins (Member # 986) on 06-03-2004, 06:16 PM:

we sell Dasani, and for $3.25, 20 oz bottle. and sells like crazy. $3.25 a bottle to me is to much.

Kyle

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 06-03-2004, 08:55 PM:

Dasani..

We well 15+ cases/week every week (on average).

Posted by James Pope (Member # 1189) on 06-03-2004, 10:15 PM:

Dasani $2.75 500ml, Evian $3.00 500ml
Used to sell Fiji too $4.75 1pt sold like crazy till coke had a fit with it, not being there product "will rip out all of there coke towers if we kept on selling it.

Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 06-03-2004, 11:02 PM:

Definitely go for the bottled water. It sells very well. Bottled juices are good also for people who can't have soda. At my theatre (Regal) we sell a 20 ounce and a 1 liter Dasani bottled water, as well as 12 ounce and 20 ounce Minute Maid. All of our bottled drinks sell very well. I'd say the best sellers are the 20 ounce water and the 20 ounce Minute Maids. We used to sell Fruitopia until it was discontinued.

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 06-03-2004, 11:37 PM:

It is definately a phenomena on how well it sells up here. Definately a "hot" item.

Of course, we have excellent water quality up here for the most part. Actually, the very best water for drinking is from the evporators of the US Navy ships at sea - providing some person doesn't get the JP-5 valve tied in with the fresh water systems.

When the Olympia Brewery in Tumwater, Washington was making their beer, their slogan was "It's the water..."

Well, there was a cartoon that was drawn by someone where it pictured a big Indian Chief urinating in the stream upriver from the Olympia plant. The caption was, "It's the water..."

About 30 years ago, I had a copy of that but it got away from me. If anyone has a copy, please send me one.

Actually, Olympia was a darn good high quality beer. I think it was Miller Low Life out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin that eventually bought Olympia out.

I think it was Miller bought out Rainier Beer, too.

Rainier Beer was a crappy beer. It gave the drinker a case of the "Green Apple Two-Step"...(commonly known as the "Shizzling Drits") just like San Maguel Beer in the Philippines. Jeeze, that stuff was bad.....I drank enough of that stuff when I was in the Philippines.

If you want your butt to leak, drink Rainier or San Maguel beer. That'll do the job. !!!! [beer]

Edited for a typo.

[ 06-04-2004, 12:59 AM: Message edited by: Paul G. Thompson ]

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 06-04-2004, 01:11 PM:

Dasani water contains salt. That's why people think it "tastes so good" [Roll Eyes]

=TMP=

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-04-2004, 09:14 PM:

We started off selling the Aquafina (Pepsi) water at 20 oz for a dollar. We have a nearby convenience store that sells it for 79¢ so didn't feel we could get too much higher.

Then Pepsi raised the price on it by a dime, so we said "the hell with it" and went to $1.50. Sales did not diminish.

Then, Pepsi had a backorder on the Aquafina one week, so we substituted some local brand they carry called "Montana Treasure." I can't tell the difference between it and the Aquafina. But, MT costs us about 1/6 as much as Aquafina did, but we left the price at $1.50 and sales still did not diminish. So, not being idiots, we are still selling a buttload of Montana Treasure for $1.50/20 oz.

Posted by Ky Boyd (Member # 23) on 06-05-2004, 02:21 AM:

James,

If your owners/management are letting Coke dictate what brand of water your theatre sells, they are crazy. Just because you sell Coke doesn't mean you are under any obligation to carry their entire product line. If the Fiji sells, stock it. We serve Coke and sell Crystal Gyser bottled spring water and bottled mineral water (plain, lemon and lime). Do you buy your Coke products from your Coke bottler or from your concessions supplier? We buy from Sysco, so we only see a Coke person about once a year or so.

Posted by Marcial Feliciano Ramos (Member # 1989) on 06-05-2004, 11:25 PM:

We sell DASANI at $1.75

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 06-06-2004, 12:56 AM:

quote: Ky Boyd
Just because you sell Coke doesn't mean you are under any obligation to carry their entire product line. If the Fiji sells, stock it.

Just don't stock it in the Coke cooler that Coke supplied you with. LOTS of theatres have fridges that they don't own, and in that situation Coke has good reason for not wanting someone else's product in their cooler.

Some companies have also signed agreements to only carry Coke beverages in order to get much lower BIB prices.

quote: James Pope
coke had a fit with it, not being there product "will rip out all of there coke towers if we kept on selling it

Whenever I get that crap I just ask if they happen to have the number for a local Pepsi rep.

Posted by Katie Smith (Member # 1594) on 06-06-2004, 01:14 AM:

Hey guys, thanks for all your helpful and informative responses.
Well yesterday we started selling the bottled water, dasani @ $2.75/20 oz. We sold 5 bottles. [thumbsdown]

But we are a four plex, and we were slow (didn't get Harry Potter), also the weather has been kinda cool this weekend. So I am very optimistic that our sells will go up. [Smile]

Thanks again.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 06-06-2004, 02:26 PM:

quote: Katie Smith
(didn't get Harry Potter)

Is anyone looking to hire any film archivists in or around Aberdeen, OH?

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 06-06-2004, 04:29 PM:

Chill any good quality water to about 35 to 45 degrees, and it'll taste just great (including tap water that does not have objectional minerals in it) - and you'll probably drink two glasses instead of one.

Some cities have very bad water quality. It would probably be better to drink bottled water - as long as you know where it is coming from. There have been cases (so I have been told) where the water came from a conventional water supply and was marketed as "pure"...

Buyer - beware.

Posted by Ky Boyd (Member # 23) on 06-06-2004, 06:27 PM:

Darryl,

Good point about the Coke-owned fridges. We bought our own, so that didn't occur to me.

Posted by Jay Cahill (Member # 2450) on 06-06-2004, 07:07 PM:

Wow. After reading this thread i finally get perspective on how crappy the movie chain i work for really is...
3.25 for a 20 oz. dasani! [Eek!]

3.25 also for a small soda, which discourages customers from buying a cheaper cup to fill with water.
The largest size cups we are allowed to give to customers free of charge is an 8 oz. shot-glass-sized leaky cup.
Ah, capitalism...

And BTW... The water sells like crazy. Maybe 90 a day at an 8 screen cinema. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Bill Carter (Member # 156) on 06-07-2004, 02:34 PM:

We sell a nice bottled spring water, and my cost for it is only about a third what Dasani would cost me.

We sell it for $2.00, and buy it by the fork-lift pallet. It sells like crazy.

Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 06-07-2004, 03:39 PM:

I'm a projectionist so I don't know the EXACT numbers, but we go through a case of Dasani every week.

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 06-07-2004, 04:10 PM:

Leo wrote:

quote:
There was a massive shemozzle when it emerged that the stuff is processed bogstandard tap water, and not natural mineral water (for example, this story). Things then went from bad to worse following a health scare, and eventually Dasani was withdrawn from sale.

Some years ago there was a company selling bottled Manchester tap water, they didn't claim it was anything else, and Manchester water is reckoned to me among the best in the Country. It didn't seem to last long, so I assume it didn't sell well. I don't much like the taste of London water, but I find it much more pleasant with just a smalll amount of lime juice in it.

Those prices people are quoteing seem vety high.

Posted by Ron Keillor (Member # 1790) on 06-08-2004, 12:12 AM:

Marks & Spencer, when they were in business here, had little luck selling an "Irish spring" water.
But even before the introduction of bottled water we did good business with plain "soda water" thought it was just carbonated water with no soda in it. Tell the customer that it is "salt-free" and they are very pleased.

Posted by Anslem Rayburn (Member # 1267) on 06-10-2004, 07:24 AM:

We sell 20 oz. Dasani bottles for $1.75. We sell about 25 to 30 cases (20 bottles each) every week. Of course, our summers get to 110 to 115 degrees on a daily basis, so people tend to be very parched by the time they get to the theater. We sell all of that, even though we allow people to bring in bottles of water from outside the theater. It's the only outside food and drink we allow!

Posted by Matt Hefright (Member # 2470) on 06-23-2004, 06:37 PM:

our sales of water constituted its own cooler in the rear of concessions! of course during the hot season the sales really skyrocket!! to maximize profits we purchase our water through sams club and are able to charge only $1.00 per bottle and still make a great profit!

Posted by Christian Volpi (Member # 2370) on 07-16-2004, 08:34 PM:

We charge $2.50 for a 20 oz. bottle of Aquafina. We go through about 2 cases a week in a little 3-plex.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 07-17-2004, 05:15 AM:

It sells, all right.

We charge $1.50 for a 24 oz bottle of "Talking Rain" We ran through 2 cases of the stuff last night (48 bottles).

I'm beginning to think bottled water is almost like popcorn.