Boxoffice-April.07.1958

WANT TO HIT SALES JACKPOT ?
Continutd from page 24
munity. FV)r years theatres have been selling
gift books and concessions could benefit
in future sales by selling gift books for
candy purchases, say. $6 worth of candy
for $5. One theatre tried this with amazingly
good results. Many parents purchased
books for gifts at birthdays and
Christmas. A circuit sells books of tickets
redeemable at the concessions at 10 per
cent discount.
MANY OF THE CANDY bar manufacturers
will provide posters to put up in schools.
libraries and the theatre stands promoting
candy as a good food and telling what is in
it. This helps to build demand.
IT'S A GOOD IDEA to spend 20 minutes
in a supermarket studying tlie animated,
revolving attention-getters which are great
self-merchandisers. Note that one item is
pushed at a time. In drive-ins the impact
should be on one item at a time with these
sales stimulators, but they will bring plus
sales of other items. Test runs in supermarkets
have shown this to be true.
HOW LONG SHOULD a display be kept up
before it loses its effectiveness? Supermarkets
change every three weeks; otherwise
the display becomes a fixture,
ever, if it's still selling, leave it up.
How-
ONE EASTERN CIRCUIT was popping corn
in all theatres, but decided the product was
inconsistent because of labor which used
varying amounts of oil. salt, etc. Tlie circuit
turned to prepwpped and is convinced
that it is giving customers better corn. The
profit may be a little less, but the overall
product is better and there is less waste it
is believed. Problem of keeping entire supply
of corn hot in the warmers was solved
by a thermostat and sales increased amazingly.
STRAIGHT CONCESSIONS lines in the drivein
theatre are good only for two lanes.
Above that, there should be converging
lanes so that attendants can get to central
cooking equipment. Othei-wise there will
be a tremendous labor problem and slower
service. The equipment should be flexible
for items handled and those still to come.
Tiend is to electric cooking equipment for
fast recovery.
STOCK
HOLLYWOOD'S
Big, Balanced Line
FOR TOP SALES
IN CANDY BARS-TOP PROFITS, TOO!
TO SERVE THE best hot chocolate, the
unit should be an agitating machine.
IN SERVING EQUIPMENT the biggest trend
is to self-service warmers with signs on top,
and to overhead heat in sale of buttercom.
It is possible to sell buttercorn in drive-ins
with four or five lanes with this overhead
warmer using only one butterserver.
A MOBILE CAR, motor-driven, has been
found useful for drive-ins with inadequate
concessions stands as it enables them to
get a fringe revenue which sometimes is as
much as 25 per cent of the entire gross.
BOTH INDOOR AND drive-in theatres
have found it a good practice to offer the
Continued on page 28
Pickles, From King to Midget
The pickle story has been told before, but
n era's a complete line of top-quality bars in the
here's the tale of Robert BriU, manager of
10^' class ... the big, balanced line to satisfy every
the Princess Theatre in Milwaukee, who
stocks four sizes, from king to midget.
taste. No matter where you display them (in candy
He said he purchased one bottle of the
cose or vending machine) these famous Hollyv*/ood
delicacies to offer at the theatre just to
bars are top sellers, priced to give you a margin
give patrons a laugh at "such foolishness."
"I really intended to take 'em home anyway,"
smiled Brill. At any rate, just for a
that assures top profits, too. Many bars also
available in the 5'^ class. Investigate!
lark, he took the bottle out of the "icebox,"
rammed a stick in one and held it up calling
out: "Who's next for a frozen kosher
dill pickle on a stick?"
^oi
To his surprise, he related, "I sold out in
MAKERS Of / The Balanced Line of "Best Sellers' ten minutes! The jumbos at 15 cents;
large, 13 cents; regulars, 10 cents, and the
0//UU/00u CAHDY DIVISION
midgets, 5 cents. I now stock 'em," he
added. One solid row of bottles!
HOLLYWOOD BRANDS. INC. - CENTR All A, ILLINOIS Even has some of his patrons asking lor
a pickle on a strawberry sundae at 40 cents
per copy.
26 The MODERN THEATRE SECTION