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Waste oil is everywhere, you would be amazed. Not everyone can use it even if they want to so its not like people are climbing over one another to get at it. In my theater a few thousand gallons a year would do just fine and it would take me about 20 minutes to find that much.

If your building is not very well insulated, I'd start there. We actually just had a company come in and give us a price on injecting foam into the walls of the auditorium. Our theater is an old WWII quonset hut building with very little insulation in the walls. To inject the rear and side walls was going to be $10,080. Compared to pulling the celotex wall covering down, putting in new insulation, and putting something back on the walls, I thought that was reasonable. That would also really seal up any cracks were air can get through the walls. And the foam we are looking at is environmentally friendly and energy star compliant. We don't need to do the ceiling because several years ago a drop ceiling with 10 inches of insulation was put in.

The other thing we are looking at is putting in either a corn or wood pellet boiler. I know corn prices have shot up, but at least it is a natural resource that is 100% renewable every year. And instead of supporting some big oil company, we would be supporting a local farmer.

A theatre I know,closed until spring because of high heating costs and low attendence!
That is one way to cut heating costs!

[This message has been edited by jacker5 (edited February 28, 2008).]

Here's a stupid question....

Is there a way to harness the waste heat from the lamphouse?

Seems to me that if you need heat and you are venting heat out of the building that somebody ought to put it to good use.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, helvetica">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mike:
I think that anyone who thinks they are going to "reinvent" theselves around and over a triple increase in net energy costs that have yet to truly and fully filter into electric rates and food bills etc. is dreaming.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

To each his own, as they say. America was founded on dreaming and it's the ones who dream who succeed. Without dreaming, there is no way to increase your business. Just ask Mr. Walt Disney (RIP). He didn't quit re-inventing himself just because energy costs rose. New attractions are being added constantly even though their costs increase the same as ours (more, actually). The only difference is the dream and desire to expand.

The point is that increases in cost should be EXPECTED and budgeted for. We all know energy and labor costs are going to increase so if we're not ready, we can only blame ourselves. It's like those people who don't budget and save for Christmas and complain about how much they have to put on their credit card when November rolls around. Christmas happens the same time every year!


You bet! We can't dance fast enough! Get up and dance faster, faster! )

I hear where you're coming from, Mike. It's probably the most difficult thing to think up new ways to change your "baby" to bring in those people who never go to movies because of one reason or another. I'm simply trying to keep people excited about what they do and to not let energy or other increases deter them from being the best they can be.

Oh boy.

Perhaps instead of suggesting somewhat empty slogans "reinventing ourselves everyday " and also suggesting that we're not on this stuff re: "our baby" every day for +/- 60-70 hours per week you could make real world word suggestions? Maybe ones that you have tried out yourself and found that you could increase your business 40 or 50%?

My points are this: most theatre owners big and small are not laying around being uncreative, most of the ones I run into are aggressive, inventive, and focused. To minimize a 3 year tripling of energy costs and suggest they should be simply budgeted for or reinvented out of is .... I can think of a lot of words...let's leave it at unacceptable. Tell that to truckers, or airlines, or state governments. Blaming theatre owners for suffering this as if they were uncreative louts is not going to cut it for me.

Ebergy is a seperate issue entirely from promotions and "reinvention" management.

Energy costs for the future will require a long term committment to conservation, modernization, and intense attention. Every nickle of increased costs is coming off the bottom line and it will not get better.

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Michael Hurley
Impresario

It ain't just oil, my friend.

Last night I watched a round table discussion on our local public access cable channel concerning the anticipated massive electric hikes coming soon here to Pennsylvania.

Several years ago, the Pennsylvania legislature, adopting that old Republican mantra of "leave the markets to themselves and let competition set prices" voted to remove the PUC's (Public Utility Commission) imposed electric price caps on PP&L (Pennsylvania Power and Light)customers effective as of December 31, 2009.

It is now generally conceded that EVEN AT TODAY'S PRICES, every PP&L customer will see their electric bill rise by 30% to 35% beginning on January 1, 2010. The suggestion from the members of the public access round table? Why the general public just needs to "suck it up" and conserve by 30% more.

I am in the process of remodeling an old theater. The building was built sometime in the 1890's or early 1900's. It didn't become a theater until later. I'm not sure when, but definitely by the 1940's.

Energy costs have been a major concern since the beginning of this project. The building has no insulation. The heating and cooling systems were antiquated. The electrical systems were inadequate. Fortunately, my theater is not in a part of the country that would have me using heating oil, but I am seeking to make my theater as energy efficient as I can. I will be putting insulation in the attic and the walls. I am using natural gas fired central heating furnaces for most of my heat (and one electric heat pump). I am using four different smaller residential sized central heat and air units instead of one or two big commercial units. I'm hoping that will give me better control over the system while minimizing equipment costs.

I am using compact flourescent light (CFL) bulbs wherever possible. You know the new spiral shaped ones. I think the ones that put out the equivalent of a 100 watt incandescent bulb use something like 26 watts of power and the ones that put out the equivalent of a 60 watt bulb use about 13 watts. They even make some now that can be used with dimmers (but not all can be).

My concession area will have the ability to produce a larger variety of foods than a standard concession stand since we will have ovens. But, these ovens are specific kinds of electric units that do not require venting to the outside. This will eliminate the loss of heated or cooled air out a vent hood. It also means that these units are not the type that must be kept hot all the time. I will be able to use "instant on" for much of the cooking or reheating of foods. This will lower our energy costs compared to other cooking options.

My last thought for now on this topic is that our customers suffer from higher costs of fuel and energy as well. I enjoy pointing out to people who are potential customers (for when I finally open) that they can easily save 6 to 15 dollars on gasoline by choosing to see a film at my theater rather than the competing theaters that are 22 or 36 miles away. This holds true for other out of town entertainment options. I don't make a habit of pointing out the gas savings (maybe I should), but when the subject of prices comes up, and I have to answer questions about why I will not be a discount theater or why my popcorn will not be $1.00 a bag, I can point out the savings.

and my theatre's competition is 28 miles, 43 miles, and 47 miles. You save money by coming to our theatre if you live near by.

The other day I was out of gas and running late and I thought... this is a throw back thought.... I'll just stop and get 5$. Ha! it's less than 1.5 gallon. I got 30.00 and it took me about as long as 5.00 did when I was in high school and gas was .28!

Oh geez.

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Michael Hurley
Impresario

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, helvetica">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mike:
Perhaps instead of suggesting somewhat empty slogans... you could make real world word suggestions? Maybe ones that you have tried out yourself and found that you could increase your business 40 or 50%?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Besides the ones I already mentioned in my original post (pizza, souvenirs, etc.), it's going to be different for everyone. What works for one theater may have already been done in another and vice-versa. If you (Mike) have already done everything I've already mentioned, great! But the journey is never complete. That is what I mean by re-inventing. Many theater owners (not all) have been doing the same thing for 20 years and don't strive to make any changes, but they are the first to complain about any price increases. I would venture to say that if you aren't increasing your total business by 10% each year, you are moving backwards. If this doesn't describe your theater and you're already doing this or you don't believe in making constant changes, then I certainly don't mind if you skip past this post.

For example, I increased one of my businesses (not a theater) by 310% in less than one year simply by learning how to create Press Releases. Every time a theater adds a new concession item or replaces the carpet, there should be a press release announcing it. This is FREE, it gets an article in every local newspaper, and when the public sees your theater in the paper a lot, you become a reputable staple in the community. People LOVE hearing about what's new in their theater. It's a win-win for you, the public, and the papers.

This is only one example, which paid for my increase in energy costs many times over. I simply and wholeheartedly think that we HAVE to blame ourselves for not being ready for price increases instead of blaming others. There are companies out there as you read this that aren't wasting their time crying and complaining about the increase in energy costs, they are sitting around a table coming up with creative ways to get around price increases. They do it all the time. It's the only long-term way to keep your doors open. The term "re-invent" isn't new and it isn't empty, and it's used by all the successful companies.

every few months we try to do something major to the theater to make it look fresh and or new...

There is this great site, The consumerist, that i visit daily. This weekend they had a piece on 'Fuel Surcharges' when a reader said the hotel he was staying at put a fuel surcharge on his bill of $6 per person per day.
http://consumerist.com/362768/comfort-suites-shady-energy-surcharge-costs-you-144

Im not a fan at all - but i have started noticing a lot of companies are doing this. and i accept it in a different way than actual prices being raised (also big against that!)

In one theatre... we have a 2nd floor full of office rentals and we are now adding a fuel surcharge based against the baseline of when they sign the lease: we now give them the choice: they can take the fuel charge-should it come..... or pay a higher lease rate fixed in advance.

In another theatre: we went up from 6.00 to 7.00 for adults, up from 3.50 to 4.00 for kids and seniors, and dropped our "bargain night" from 3.50 to 2.50.

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Michael Hurley
Impresario

Invest in an oil well. With the price of oil going between $90 and $100 a barrel, it only makes sense.

So, if you're oil well was producing 10 barrels a day (assuming $100 a barrel), that would be a thousand dollars a day, if you owned the whole thing. Let's say you own 10%, that would knock you down to $100 a day. Over a month long period, that would give you $3,000. How much would this offset your theater???

Just a suggestion.

I want an oil well.

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Michael Hurley
Impresario