money Drive-in movie theater ‘sold-out’ with less than a week to prepare
As social distancing rules continue due to the coronavirus pandemic, movie theaters are gaining attention. Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christoforous and Brian Sozzi speak to Beth Wilson, owner of the Warwick Drive-In, as she prepares to reopen on Friday.
Video Transcript
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ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: All right, welcome back to "The First Trade." How's this for a comeback in the era of coronavirus? Drive-in theaters, they may be part of our new normal. Joining us now is Beth Wilson. She is owner of the Warwick Drive-In Theater in upstate New York. Beth, good to have you here. I understand you're sitting at a picnic table outside there at the drive-in.
BETH WILSON: [INAUDIBLE]
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Your drive-in theater is actually cleared to open for business this Friday. I am curious, what has demand been like, and how have pre-ticket sales been going?
BETH WILSON: Pre-ticket sales are-- we're pretty much sold out our pre-ticket sales. We do have some general public tickets left. And everybody around here is going crazy trying to get everything together. We had less than a week to do a months' worth of work that we normally do.
BRIAN SOZZI: All right, Beth, what have you done in terms of how-- how you try-- have you tried to reinvent the drive-in movie experience? Are you using digital? How does the concession stands change?
BETH WILSON: The concession stands, we're working on an app right now to get everything up and going. So that should be in place by tomorrow. Our movies are all streamed in. We have the new [INAUDIBLE] DCP movies, and we're trying to make it work. It's something that's going to be good for everybody, I think, just getting a little relaxation and--
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Hey, Beth--
BETH WILSON: [INAUDIBLE].
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: --what kind of movies are you going to be showing? I mean, when I think of the drive-ins, you know, I think of sort of throwback nostalgic movies, classic movies. Are you going to have first-run films?
BETH WILSON: Right now, there's no first-run movies until July 15. So we have "Trolls." We have "Jumanji." We have "Invisible Man," "Bloodshot." We have six movies altogether right now, so we're picking up stuff from December, January, and February, and beginning of March.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Talk to me about-- about these concessions a little more. Like, are people going to be able to email you what they want while they're watching the movie? And then how do they get their items?
BETH WILSON: It's going to be an app that we're setting up, and it'll be just like a curbside pickup.
BRIAN SOZZI: Beth, how long--
BETH WILSON: So, you know, you will place an order on your phone, and--
BRIAN SOZZI: Now, Beth--
BETH WILSON: --we'll text you when it's done and you come down and you pick it up. So everything's is a little different this year, so we're working all the little kinks out. It's going to be interesting.
BRIAN SOZZI: Beth, how-- how sustainable do you think this is? Because are you looking to add new screens because of the uptick in business you're seeing now? Full disclosure-- I-- I'm rooting for you. I remember going to the drive-in theater inside of my parents' 1987 Ford Escort hanging out the back of the trunk, so I think this is great to see. And I hope more theaters like yours reopen, or open altogether.
BETH WILSON: I'm not planning on any-- putting any more screens up. I only have a limited amount of property. I have 11 and 1/2 acres here. But I'm starting to see, like, with our presale tickets, our weeknights are going to go up. And I think that's going to be helping the industry because most of the industry people think about Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Monday through Thursday, we are open. So I think that's going to be helping us have, you know, nicer attendance on those days.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Do you think that this is sort of the drive-in movie theater's moment to shine, Beth? Because people who have never gone to a drive-in may do that now, I mean, because their AMC theater is not open. We're hearing a lot of the movie chains are having trouble. Some may actually go bankrupt. So it's kind of ironic, don't you think, that drive-ins might be the-- the great hope for the Hollywood movie industry?
BETH WILSON: I think so. I think we're going to see some more coming up. I mean, there's only 330 of us in the country, so it'd be nice to see some new ones coming in. And I'm almost positive I'm going to have a lot of new customers that are coming in for the first time, you know, and to see the experience and enjoy the experience. It's a lot different than your general movie theater when you're sitting at night under the stars and watching a movie.
BRIAN SOZZI: Beth, just thinking in terms of innovation, are you thinking about holding concerts at your property?
BETH WILSON: We are doing graduations for the month of June during the week. Our big concern was to get these kids graduated in a proper way. They deserve it. And we've had people reach out for concerts, comedian shows, bands that just want to play before the show, all these little different things. It's going to be interesting for the rest of the year.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Wait, Beth, I love this idea. So-- so some of these graduates, they're coming in cars, and they're going to be sitting there with their families in their respective car, and there's going to be a graduation ceremony at the drive-in?
BETH WILSON: Yes, they're going to come in, they're going to sit in their cars. And a lot of your schools have their graduations pre-recorded. So there will be a pre-recorded show on the screen, and then each graduate they're taking from the yearbook and putting it on the big screen for them. So instead of walking, they'll see their pictures on a big screen.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: That is--
BRIAN SOZZI: Now, Beth, what was the--
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Yeah, go ahead, Brian. I'm sorry.
BRIAN SOZZI: No, no, Beth, what was the outlook? How was your business before the coronavirus pandemic? How long have you been operating your theaters? And-- and what were you planning to do?
BETH WILSON: The Warwick Drive-In Theater has been in operation since 1950. My father purchased the theater in 1977. My husband and I purchased the theater in 1995. We've kept the business going. We've had our ups and downs through the years. The last couple of years, we've seen a rise. And I think this year, we're really going to see a rise come up.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: How-- how did you survive? I mean, that's a long time to be in business. You survived many a-- a market downturn. How did you guys most recently survive the Great Recession? I mean, was business just bad news back then, or were people coming in?
BETH WILSON: People were coming in. But we have-- we try to make it a family-oriented business, so a little bit for everybody. And through the years, you know, I've had two or three jobs. My husband's had other jobs. And, you know, we're finally getting to the point where we have luckily had a little money in the bank to be able to sit through this crisis of the corona and now being able to get back open.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: You know, I'm-- I'm just seeing this news cross over. There's a-- there's a diner in a story of Queens that I'm familiar with, the Bel-Aire Diner. They have a large parking lot area. They're actually going to turn their parking lot into a pop-up drive-in movie theater, which I think is awesome. But what does that do for a business like yours? Does that help you, or is that just more competition?
BETH WILSON: It's actually-- it's a little bit of competition, but it's not the true meaning of a drive-in movie theater. And, you know, your pop-up theaters, you-- it's a, you know, blow-up screen, where I have 100-foot screens here. Your concession stands and your interaction with people on a normal season. They're good, but they're not the real thing. If you want the real thing, you have to come to Warwick.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: There you go. Well said. Beth Wilson, owner of the Warwick Drive-In Theater, good luck this weekend with the shows. Thanks for coming on.
BETH WILSON: Thank you so much for having me. Have a great day.
