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Well said Burney!

I love this website because there are so many of us very small guys in very small towns that are doing it for the community rather than the big bucks. If I was in it for the money, I would have went to a more populated area years ago.

People in larger populated areas don't have a clue on how things like 4th of July and county fairs are supported by basically the whole community.

The funniest thing that happened to me in one of my towns (not related to the 4th--but showing how the community supports things) I was scolded for opening with a big movie on the same week end that the community play opened--by good customers (I think they wanted me to tell Hollywood to reschedule their opening heehee)

I don't think my 5-screen in a town with a population of 11,608 is a "large population base."

Anyone that has a new theater should not be closed on JULY 4TH....PERIOD!

Its never a big day for us but around here you can see fireworks on several days depending on which town you want to go to so it would not make sense to close for the 4th.

we have a huge 4th celebration in one of our towns and we fought the river for the first 3 years insisting on being open. But we found that no one, and I mean maybe 10 people, come to the theatre. Plus the emps go crazy wanting to go as well. So we closed. This year we'll have Zippy's open and it's the first Friday: we may stay open.

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Michael Hurley
Impresario

I'll be open on the 4th of July just as I am open most other holidays. The exceptions are Thanksgiving and Christmas eve. I do run a matinee on Dec. 24th, but on Thanksgiving I run nothing. I actually do ok on the 4th of July. We have no fireworks here at our town on the 4th, as the following week is the community days festival which has fireworks Friday evening at 10 PM. I'm open during those as well, and it doesn't seem to hurt business then either. Most of the people I get that evening are probably from out of town.

When I die i will not wish i had worked more July 4ths Christmas nights etc etc. Theaters are a 365 day business mainly because the large chains use and abuse their salary staffs. How many of the home office staffers will work holidays?
I agree with burney....its your business run as you see fit and let the chips fall as they may.

LET THE CHIPS FALL AS THEY MAY..I DONT THINK THIS IS TAUGHT AT HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL...LOL

New or old, it doesn't matter. My choice to close on the 4th is no different from my influence over my bookings (yes, we meddle in that area, too), my concessions offerings, my house rules and the way we train our staff to interact with our customers.

In short, it's just one of the privileges of ownership. I'm comfortable with my choice. My staff comes back on the 5th, ready to kick major attendance tail.

You can say what you want about whether a theatre is 365, or should be. There are plenty that aren't, and their owners have their reasons for it.

Theatre owners generally equal "strong opinions". You're all welcome to yours, but I'm not sure that saying someone "should" be doing something, "period" or not is very constructive... and possibly not practical.

I have had the Temple for 6 years... it feels longer. Al;l of the 4ths since year one have been sun-mo-tu-weds-thurs and due to this year being Friday: we are staying open but scheduyling early enough film ends so fireworrs and movies can both be done. Next year: Sat night. Same thing after that: we'll go back to closed for 4th.

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Michael Hurley
Impresario

Our fireworks have been cancelled due to the major fires still burning and the current high fire danger. This is the first time they have ever been cancelled.

So, now I will be open on the 4th.

We're open on the 4th, and we're having our own fireworks display. Nothing huge, 10-15 minutes max, but is always appreciated by the customers that do show up. That way they don't have to choose between fireworks or movies.... they can do both.

We usually have our parking attendants plus a couple of guys from the fire department shoot the fireworks from behind screen 1, which is easily seen by all. This year we have allocated about $900 for fireworks.

[This message has been edited by Barry Floyd (edited June 30, 2008).]

That ought to be a pretty good show, Barry.
Jack

I'm certainly glad that I was open today, on the 4th of July. It was the 3rd biggest Friday opening I've had this year. I opened Iron Man. The only problem was that I only ran evening shows... no matinee.

I had a problem with my rewinder last night so I came in around noon today to fix it. While I was there the phone rang constantly. Every call that I answered ask: Is there a matinee today? Had I had a matinee today, I might have had my biggest opening of the year.

What do I owe this wonderful influx of holiday business to? That very thing that every indoor theatre owner loves most... RAIN, all day long!

so/so today .....all but rocky horror at midnight 60 people not bad for midnight...