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Drive-in in danger of closing
posted by
Michael Zoldessy
on
June 30, 2009 at 7:45 am
GLEN DALE, WV — The Glen Dale Drive-in might close due to poor business.
The Glendale Drive-In Theater, located in Marshall County, is in jeopardy of closing unless more movie goers start showing up, 7 News learned.
The owners say they’re doing all they can to keep the drive-in open. Friday night they’re bringing in a live band to begin at 7p.m. and play up until the movie starts and then the band will begin performing again during the intermission between the two movies.
Read the full story in the State Journal.
Comments (9)
If people are staying away, there must be something wrong at this theater. Things that will drive away people are:
Dim picture.
Bad sound.
Bad projection: out-of-frame, mixed up reels, film breaks, bad focus
Dirty restrooms.
Dirty snackbar/kitchen.
Bad food.
Bad management allowing disturbances to take place (fights, drinking)
One word: TECHNALIGHT! Provides the clearest images ever projected on a drive-in screen. It literally saved all the remaining drive-ins in Southern California from fading away.
http://www.technalight.com/english.html
Take the money you’re paying a band and paint the screen.New reflectors in lamphouses due wonders also, as well as clean lenses.
Norelco…..How are you doing? I thought you dropped off the face of the earth.
Excellent points—well taken, Ken Layton. Thanks for pointing out a whole set of other reasons why the movie business has been all but killed off; Theatre managers have helped bring it on themselves by being too lax and not seeing to it that restrooms/snackbars and kitchens were kept cleaners, better food was served, that more experienced projectionists were hired that really knew how to project a movie picture, that the picture brightness and sound were adjusted properly, and by not cracking down on and ousting disruptive troublemakers in the drive-ins as necessary.
I realize that this thread isn’t about ordinary movie theatres, but I think that these same points could/would just as easily apply to regular movie theatres as they do drive-in movie theatres.
Absolutely. Any one or more or all of the above problems can apply to drive-ins and indoor theaters. That can actually drive away business even though the customers may not say anything about it.
Actually, Ken Layton, this:
“customers may not say anything about it.”
is a big part of the rub, and why the above-mentioned problems persist. I believe that if customers spoke up more frequently about these problems, then things might change somewhat. That being said, movie theatre managers should work at seeing to it that their places are kept cleaner, better food gets served, and that more experienced, competent motion picture projectionists who really and truly care about what they do are hired. Theatre managers should also come down…..hard….on obnoxious troublemakers and boot them out, if need be.
Very well put MPol, but today its easier said than done.
Thanks for the compliment, movie534.
I see what you mean by “easier said than done.” Unfortunately, however, continuing to ignore or turn a blind eye and/or a deaf ear to the problems won’t make them go away, but will make them worse, if anything.