Carmike Cinemas Trying New Stimulus Plan

Are you tired of going to the movies and not only paying $8+ per ticket but then going to the concession stand and paying $12.50 for a large popcorn and a soda?   Then, if you’re in the mood for candy, you gotta throw down $5 for a half-filled box of Sno-Caps.   Want straws for your soda?   That’ll be an extra $3.50.   Napkins?   $2.75.   Need a tray to carry all this crap?   $7.25.   When all is said and done, it’s cheaper to buy a car, drive it to Hollywood, and watch the film being shot than it is to actually get into the theater and have an enjoyable evening.

Well, if you are tired of how expensive theater concessions have gotten, and you live near one of the 2,276 Carmike Cinemas screens in the country, you are in luck.   Starting March 10th, Carmike will implement their Tuesday-night stimulus plan.   What’s that mean?   That means they will start selling 16-ounce sodas and 46-ounce bags of popcorn for $1 each.   Yeah, that was $1.   No zeros behind that one.

This is a serious venture to try out considering theaters make the bulk of their profit on the concessions.   Carmike, who had third-quarter 2008 sales dropping 8.3% to $41.8 million, hopes this promotion will stimulate customer loyalty while also bringing in new customers.

It’s a very interesting plan, but I don’t see how this could drive people to the theater.   You still have to pay $8 or more just to get in, and I don’t see people holding out to see a movie on Tuesday night rather than the weekend it comes out just to save money on concessions they might not be buying anyway.   Now, if they decided to expand this promotion to Friday and Saturday nights, that would really impress me.

Source: New York Times