Besides selling movie tickets, how do movie theaters make a profit?

Movie theaters receive most of their profit from selling movie tickets. However, in order to further increase their profit, movie theaters offer their customers other goods in addition to their ticket. Specifically, theaters offer popcorn and candy in order to gain a larger profit.

In 1905, nickelodeon theaters were introduced across the United States. By 1907, about 3,000 theaters opened their doors and by 1914, these theaters were filled with the 27% of Americans that went to the movies each week. These theaters attracted concession stand workers to sell their goods to moviegoers. Though independent from the theater, the concessionaires would sell their candy and popcorn to consumers at the movies. At first, theaters refused to offer concessions at their theaters. Looking down on the concessionaires, theater owners were concerned that selling food at their theaters would degrade the theater’s value. Theater owners were looking to keep the cinema an upscale environment that serviced the elite. In order to distinguish themselves from lower grade shows, movie theaters elected to not sell food.

            It wasn’t until the Great Depression that theaters agreed to sell snacks at their theaters. In an effort to gain more profit during the hard economic times, theaters offered consumers snacks and concessions. Theaters made popcorn accessible to the general population, selling a portion to each costumer for nearly ten cents. This price allowed for some of the poorest Americans to purchase the snack.

            In the late 1940s, television became a direct competitor of the movie industry. Allowing families to stay at home and enjoy their favorite television shows, television caused movie attendance to decrease by 50 percent. Losing a portion of their consumers to television, movie theaters became more aggressive in selling popcorn. At the close of World War II, sugar that was being rationed during wartime became available to the public. Theaters used this influx of sugar to introduce more snacks such as Goobers, Sno-Caps, Chuckles, and Black Crows as well and the still popular Junior Mints and M&Ms.

            With the success of their food sales, movie theaters increased their profits. Allowing the theater to become a place that sold more than movie tickets, the movie theater became a culture that appealed to many people. In attracting a wider consumer market and providing consumers with more options for purchase, the movie industry was able to expand the success of their business.

 

What other amenities have increased theater profit?

 

Works Cited

“A Short History of Movie Theater Concession Stands. Plus: A Candy Quiz!” Slate Magazine. Web. 18 May 2012. <http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/summer_movies/2007/06/make_it_a_large_for_a_quarter_more.single.html&gt;.