Boxoffice-January.07.1950
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Editor's Note<br />
With this review of refreshment service<br />
techniques in Hartford. Conn., the Modern<br />
Theotre launches a feature designed to be<br />
of help to all exhibitor readers whether they<br />
now offer refreshment services or are contemplating<br />
the addition of this service.<br />
Hartford was chosen as the lead-off city<br />
in the series because, in many respects, it<br />
typifies a medium-s zed metropolitan area.<br />
In order to compile the doto on which the<br />
review is based, the Modern Theatre correspondent<br />
in Hartford, Allen M. W dem,<br />
interviewed each theatre manager In the city.<br />
It is our intention to conduct similar surveys<br />
of<br />
the theatre refreshment service operations<br />
in representative cities across the country.<br />
These reviews will be published in succeed<br />
ng issues of the Modern Theatre.<br />
Copies of the questionnaire forms are available<br />
to readers who may be further interested<br />
in the base on which surveys are made.<br />
Questions, suggestions or criticism of this market<br />
survey series ere welcomed, and should<br />
be addressed to Survey Editor, Modern Theatre,<br />
825 Von Brunt Blvd., Konsas City 1, Mo.<br />
This view of the recently remodeled candy stand of the 1,200-seat E. M. Loew's downtown first<br />
run theatre shows its location immediately in front of auditorium doors opposite the ticket taker.<br />
"The vending machine," Greenway remarked,<br />
"is good for a house where candy<br />
tastes and brand preferences are known<br />
and remain constant. In other situations<br />
it is better to supplement the vender's<br />
selection of candy bars with an attendant<br />
and refreshment stand, for nine times out<br />
of ten, the patron wants a brand of candy<br />
not included in the limited number of bars<br />
available in the machine."<br />
No theatre in the Hartford area uses<br />
mezzanine candy stands, although there is<br />
more than adequate space in a number of<br />
houses for such installations.<br />
At the recently-remodeled Strand Theatre,<br />
an 1,800-seat unit of the Warner circuit,<br />
several problems affected the location<br />
of the refreshment stand and the type of<br />
merchandise handled. Prior to the remodeling,<br />
a small-sized candy stand was situated<br />
in the rear of the auditorium, with ordinai-y<br />
spot lighting to call the patrons' attention<br />
to the stand.<br />
With remodeling, however, it was felt<br />
that the stand was not large enough to<br />
handle the refreshment trade of a first-run<br />
house of this size. The new and larger stand<br />
was installed in the theatre foyer immediately<br />
next to the doorman's collection<br />
box, psychologically an ideal spot for refreshments.<br />
Prior to remodeling, popcorn<br />
and ice cream were not handled by the old<br />
stand for lack of adequate space. Today,<br />
however, the stand not only sells all popular<br />
brands of candy bars, but also popcorn<br />
and ice cream.<br />
"It's really amazing." says James F. Mc-<br />
Carthy, veteran manager of the Strand,<br />
"how refreshment sales have jumped since<br />
the new stand was built." McCarthy credits<br />
a good portion of the Strand's success<br />
to a continual vigil over the cleanliness of<br />
the stand and its personnel. The stand is<br />
well lighted and a full display of candy<br />
stock is kept in sight at all times.<br />
Soft drink machines are just coming into<br />
their own in Connecticut's capital city. The<br />
The stand is operated by the theatre management and offers the patron a choice of ice cream,<br />
popular five and ten-cent candy and popcorn dispensed from a Pronto warmer. The theatre was<br />
formerly served by vending machines only.<br />
main reason given for the absence of these<br />
machines in the past has been space limitation.<br />
"Certainly," ventured one theatre<br />
manager, "we'd like to serve our customers<br />
ice cold soft drinks, but where can you put<br />
such machines? Our refreshment stand<br />
space has just so much area and that's<br />
all."<br />
De luxe suburban houses in nearby towns<br />
which have been built more recently feature<br />
soft drink vending machines and a few<br />
downtown houses have them. In nearby<br />
suburban locations, of course, space for<br />
extensive refreshment service was provided<br />
in initial planning.<br />
According to a recent check, there are<br />
only three popcorn poppers in operation in<br />
theatre refreshment stands in the entire<br />
city and these are in neighborhood houses.<br />
The reason is traced to a general belief<br />
among theatre managers that poppers can't<br />
(Continued on following page)<br />
This modern stand in the downtown subsequent run Center Theatre, owned by the Continental<br />
circuit, gets maximum patron traffic by virtue of its location immediately inside the lobby doors.<br />
The stand is operated by a concession specialist firm and includes ice cream, candy and popcorn<br />
in the merchandise offered. A Pronto popcorn warmer is used.<br />
BOXOFTICE January 7. 1950 21