I grew up down the road from Delk 10. It was the grandest theater in all of Cobb County, that’s for sure, and it wasn’t until the early 2000s that it started to go downhill.
I’ll be blunt in saying there are two reasons this theater went out of business, and everyone who lives around here knows it. The first was competition and the lacking quality in comparison. Places like Parkway Pointe, Barrett Commons, and Regal Town Center were built and stole away most of its business. Delk had no stadium seating, which was probably its biggest downfall, in addition to soon-outdated decor and smaller theater sizes than the competition.
Secondly, the management and the clientele drove most of its fan base away. This may not be politically correct, but just because we don’t like the truth doesn’t make it any less relevant. The management was absolutely terrible in keeping up the quality of the theater and catering to their customers. I actually applied for a job here during high school and had never seen such a shotty organization. The day I applied only one person – the manager – was taking tickets, starting the films, and serving concessions, all because his entire staff had just not shown up that day and there was no one to fill in.
But the management also represented was what soon becoming their larger clientele. The middle and upper-class residents of Marietta/East Cobb stopped wanting to go to the theater because it was now “ghetto” and there were always individuals standing around outside that made you feel like you were going to get mugged. The Delk management did nothing to thwart this; they embraced themselves as a low-tier, third-rate theater and forced away the people who would actually contribute financially to the theater instead of sneaking in and stealing concessions. (Like I said, I went here all the time growing up – I’m not exaggerating).
In the end, Delk led to their own demise. They could’ve easily saved themselves by: 1) installing stadium seating, 2) renovating the entire building, and 3) hiring a police presence (like Barrett Commons does on the weekends) to make it an enjoyable experience.
I grew up down the road from Delk 10. It was the grandest theater in all of Cobb County, that’s for sure, and it wasn’t until the early 2000s that it started to go downhill.
I’ll be blunt in saying there are two reasons this theater went out of business, and everyone who lives around here knows it. The first was competition and the lacking quality in comparison. Places like Parkway Pointe, Barrett Commons, and Regal Town Center were built and stole away most of its business. Delk had no stadium seating, which was probably its biggest downfall, in addition to soon-outdated decor and smaller theater sizes than the competition.
Secondly, the management and the clientele drove most of its fan base away. This may not be politically correct, but just because we don’t like the truth doesn’t make it any less relevant. The management was absolutely terrible in keeping up the quality of the theater and catering to their customers. I actually applied for a job here during high school and had never seen such a shotty organization. The day I applied only one person – the manager – was taking tickets, starting the films, and serving concessions, all because his entire staff had just not shown up that day and there was no one to fill in.
But the management also represented was what soon becoming their larger clientele. The middle and upper-class residents of Marietta/East Cobb stopped wanting to go to the theater because it was now “ghetto” and there were always individuals standing around outside that made you feel like you were going to get mugged. The Delk management did nothing to thwart this; they embraced themselves as a low-tier, third-rate theater and forced away the people who would actually contribute financially to the theater instead of sneaking in and stealing concessions. (Like I said, I went here all the time growing up – I’m not exaggerating).
In the end, Delk led to their own demise. They could’ve easily saved themselves by: 1) installing stadium seating, 2) renovating the entire building, and 3) hiring a police presence (like Barrett Commons does on the weekends) to make it an enjoyable experience.