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Do you all sell hot dogs?

$1.75 with .25 each for cheese or chili on them.

I sell 8 1/2", 1/6# Casper Dogs for $3.00.

going to start dogs......3.00 WAS WHAT I WAS THINKING 2 FOR 5.00

Sounds like your price point is dead on in my book, at least...

We sell the Sinai Kosher dogs (10"?) on a hoagie bun for $2.75. Burney's got me on that one !

I was recently reading an article about a small cinema chain that was taking over a location, and one of the things in the press release said they had "$1.00 hot dogs all the time." What do you think of that idea? In the location I am working on right now, I thought about something like that, because I thought people might like a "cheap" option of something to eat. You can get a cheap hot dog and bun for about 20 cents, still make about 75 cents on one. BUT, do you think it would cannabalize sales of other more profitable items? Thats what I worry about, Is someone going to get a hot dog for $1 or a popcorn for $4. I wouldn't be in it to provide a super high quality hot dog, but the value would be there. I think people might talk about it a little.

We don't sell premium dogs but most of my customers love them. $1.75 +.25 for chees or chili.

How do you serve hotdogs?? do you have them in the same area as the rest of the candy or a special hot dog booth?? Do you serve them in a napkin or a hotdog bag or something else?? Do you cook them on a grill or in a steamer or some other way?? Is there a lot of wasted dogs and or buns at the end of the night??
We have never had them at our cinema..but I would love to..just no space in the candybar area for a machine sadly

[This message has been edited by Pieman (edited October 13, 2007).]

At the chain theatre I used to work for, we had one of those Gold Medal Hot Dog machines which would spin the dogs around. We didn't sell many hot dogs, and consequently, they would sit in there a long time. After they had sat there a long time, I always felt we should call it beef jerkey. We did have a lot of waste, it wasn't worth selling for us. So, I stopped selling them for a while, then I put a microwave in the vending stand and we would just make them to order. This way, they are always fresh, and we have no waste. If I would do the $1.00 hot dog thing that I previously talked about, I would expect to sell a lot, so I would probably put them in a crock pot, so we could just quickly grab them. How you serve them is kind of up to you, little foil wrapper, little hot dog box, paper boat, plate, etc.

I steam the dogs and buns and serve them in a wax paper sheet. Condiments are on a table away from the concession counter. My dog likes the occasional leftover.

We tried dogs for a while using a steamer, they would sell, but because you could never guess your attendance we always ended up making too many or not enough. It takes a while to get the steamer going, consumes alot of energy so its easier to make a bunch than a few. Waste was my biggest concern as well as taking away sales from other items. We finally bagged the idea after a year.

I have the same issue with my slushy machine. We turn it on for the weekends but leave it off during the week when attendance is low because of the energy cost its takes to fire up a batch just to sell one or two.

Roger

Yes, deciding how many to make is a problem. It takes about 10 minutes to heat dogs and buns if the steamer is hot--20 minutes from cold.

If you arent doing slushies you should look into it. They are very popular, even year around which I was surprised at. And the machines are free. Margins are good. Soda margins are better, but its a good alternative for healthy parents who dont want the kids to have caffeine. They have sugar free versions of product as well.

Roger

We use a 50% fruit juice neutral base for our slushies, and several parents have changed their minds about the kids having them when they find that out. I know there is also a 100% fruit juice neutral base available.