The Exhibitor (1954)

EXTRA PROFITS EP-3 Seen at the booth of the Automatic Products Company, New York, are Chuck Glass, Sam Rosenblum, and Mel Rapp. Crowds flocked here. Seen at the booth of the Berio Vending Corpor¬ ation, Philadelphia, are Henry Rolnick, Martin Greer, and Ralph Pries, all quite interested. The Star Manufacturing Company booth drew Fred W. Young, Bob Neann, G. T. Tookey, Sam Rosenblum, and Bill Moran, interested in popcorn. Concessions Show Sparks Convention There can be little doubt that one of the most important and informative sessions conducted at the recent IPA-TOATESMA-TEDA convention and trade show held in Chicago’s Conrad Hilton Hotel, was the Concesssions Forum. Those for¬ tunate enough to attend could not help but benefit from the wealth of concession data that was discussed. Under the capable direction of Van Myers, of Wometco Theatres, a panel of experts gave a short address on their specialty and then answered questions from the floor. Popcorn The first subject to be discussed was popcorn, and in his talk Carl Siegel, Stan¬ ley Warner Management Corporation, ad¬ vised that the type of theatre and where it is located was one of the determining factors in deciding whether to use pre¬ popped corn or to pop it on location. It was readily agreed that one of the key selling lures was the animation of the corn as it starts to pop. However, it was also pointed out that in many cases the attendant is not capable of making the popcorn properly, either by using tco much seasoning, burning the corn, etc. One of the prime advantages of purchas¬ ing pre-popped corn, it was said, was that it insured uniform quality and eliminated the danger of the concession stand at¬ tendant making any errors. C. Cretors and Company, Chicago, pop-corn equipment, had at its booth, Ed Chrisman, How¬ ard G. Vaughan, C. Cretors, and Dan S. Lawson. November 17, 1954 One point which was heavily stressed by every member of the panel was that the use of buttered popcorn greatly increased sales and concession stand revenue, and it was strongly recommended that every theatre add this to their other extra profits items. Soft Drinks The tremendous improvements made in automatic drink machines in the past few years was pointed out by Harold Newman, of Century Theatre Circuit. Based on his experiences Newman said that profits were greater with multiple drink ma¬ chines, and he pointed out that the trend is toward six, eight, and 10 drink ma¬ chines, with some dispensers making use of two cup stations. One of the important recent trends in automatic beverage dispensers is the com¬ bining of carbonated and non-carbonated drinks in the same machine. The introduc¬ tion of hot drinks such as coffee, was also noted with favor. In a discussion of the merchandising of drink machines Newman stressed the value of dressing up the dispenser with lights, and various forms of animation. It was suggested that even the cleaning and filling of the dispensers can aid sales as people are usually curious to see the inner workings of the machine. When doing this, however, make sure that the machine is spotless both outside and inside, Newman explained. Eugene Sullivan and G. T. Toohey are seen at the Henry Heide Company booth. Every avail¬ able foot of trade show space was utilized. Kendall Way, of Interstate Theatres, continued the beverage discussion by sug¬ gesting the’ value of using nationally ad¬ vertised syrups, the reasoning being that a, these items are easiest to sell. Another advantage is the many point of purchase advertising items which are supplied by these large manufacturers. The size of the cold drink market was illustrated by Way when he said that one out of every four persons will purchase a cold beverage, thus offering a huge po¬ tential to theater concession sales. It was suggested that a theatre dispenser should have a minimum of four selections, in¬ cluding one non-carbonated drink. Tho vital necessity of maintaining the proper temperature for the drinks was under¬ lined by Way. The question of selling beer at drive-ins was brought up, and both the panel and the overwhelming majority of those at¬ tending the meeting agreed that such a practice could do nothing but harm the reputation of the entire industry, and possibly lead to adverse legislation. Ice Cream The role of ice cream in the concession picture was discussed by Lee Kogan, of RKO Theatres. He briefly reviewed the history of ice cream merchandising from the days when the bulky unsightly fix¬ tures were usually hidden under the (Continued on page EP-6) Seen at the Selmix Dispensers, Inc., booth are O. Follow, Carl Yoder, Wyn Gruber, P. Panagos, G. Packard, and N. E. Stassen, checking items. MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR