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I'm actually surprised to hear so many who don't offer hot dogs. I thought all theaters did as a staple item. Live and learn.

One of four theaters in an area I used to live in offered $1.00 hot dogs, and I always chose that theater over the others just for that reason, all else being the same. I still payed $4 for popcorn and $3 for a drink, but I would have at the other theaters anyway. They may not have made much, if any money on the hot dog, but they still got my repeat business because of it.

If you use a rolling hot dog warmer, like the Gold Medal machine, you can also use it for other rolling items, like Churritos. Here is an excellent article on Hot Dogs for retail sales:
http://www.provisioneronline.com/FILES/hot_dogs.pdf

We do not serve hot dogs for two reasons:
1) Health Dept. Serving just popcorn makes us not regulated by Health Dept.
If we cooked hot dogs, we'd have to get Health Permit, install 4-compartment sink, grease trap, etc.....

2) I would think that selling hot dogs would hurt popcorn sales. Profit on a hot dog doesn't come close to popcorn,
and I can't imagine my customers choosing to buy BOTH popcorn and a hot dog.
Plus you need a refrigerator, the expensive equipment, counter space (we are cramped), the waste, etc.

Unless you all can give info that would convince me otherwise, I cannot see where selling hot dogs is a positive thing.

I have never been, no matter how small, to a theatre that did not serve Hot dogs.
It goes hand in hand. Hot dogs, Popcorn, soda and candy snack!
No hot dogs.......Oh my!

Here in California I had to have a food handlers permit even without the hot dog sales. To them, soda, ice, and popcorn are food, and as such, need a license.

As far as hot dogs taking away from popcorn sales, I'll pay more attention to this this weekend, but I believe that 99.9% of my hot dog sales are to people who buy popcorn and soda also.

Interesting.
BurneyFalls, who are your typical hot dogs buyers?
Is it families, young adults, older adults, or what...?

Most hot dogs are purchased by adults (young-middle aged) or parents buying for their teenaged boy. Very few kids actually buy them; they prefer candy.

We have always sold hot dogs, but recently switched to a smaller dog and started selling them for $1. Last weekend we sold about 130 of them, so they are going quite well. Before, it would take us 3 weeks to sell that many dogs instead of 3 days!

Big Guy-
Thats just what I was looking into doing. Do you think it took any sales away of higher profit items? Do you think people bought a $1 hot dog instead of a $3 popcorn? OR Do you think it just added to your sales? Thanks for the info.
Jeff