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Topic: Antique seats (getting rid of)

Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-05-2000 05:12 PM

Has anybody had any experience unloading old seats? I have some from a recent remodeling and wonder the best way to get rid of them (short of landfill).

Since they're certified antiques (70 years old and in pretty good shape), I wonder if Ebay is the way to go? Have never sold anything on there myself.

Any reports from the field would be appreciated. (or offers.)

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Ken Layton
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1452
From: Olympia, Wash. USA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 08-05-2000 06:03 PM

Put a want ad in the local newspaper. Maybe start the wording off with something like this: "Real theater seats for your home theater! Own a piece of history in your home".

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Russ Kress
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 202
From: Charleston, WV, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 08-05-2000 10:52 PM

Good luck!!

When our seven-plex in Charleston, WV was retrofitted to an all stadium eleven plex the original plan was to sell the old, recently refurbished Citations. They were in excellent shape and had extra padding installed when they were re-covered.

This plan quickly deteriorated into, "Russ! Figure out how to get them to the dump!" We had run out of room to store them and the contractor wanted them outta there.

If you have a local university or college, give them a call. W.V. State took every single one of ours off our hands. They even came and got them.

The old seats really were in good shape and it was nice to see them go to a good cause. Way nicer than driving a dump truck to the landfill every day for the rest of my natural life!

The local media even picked up the story and we were philanthropists!

The "own a real seat" idea is a neat one. It might not do the trick if you need to move large quantities though.

As I stated before...

Good luck (and 1-800-GO U-HAUL)!!

(If that's not U-Haul's number, it should be!)

Russ

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Dave Williams
Wet nipple scene

Posts: 1836
From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 08-06-2000 06:45 PM

Forget about it. We are sitting (literally) on nearly 10 thousand citations. We couldnt sell them at $3 a piece. No one wants old seats. Right now people want new seats to sit in. And the prices are not that bad if you shop around. If you dont want to pay for storage, just get rid of them as fast as you can.

Dave

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-09-2000 12:22 PM

Thanks for the input guys. I was never thinking about selling these to another theatre... there's no way a modern audience would put up with them! I thought maybe somebody had experience selling old seats on ebay...I saw ONE old seat on there once go for $150!

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Wayne Cope
Film Handler

Posts: 25
From: Micanopy, FL, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 09-01-2000 10:48 PM

Amateur live theatre organizations often use hand-me-down seating. Might want to include the phone numbers of a couple of outfits that refurbish seats, altho people who are willing to put in the time can do it all themselves!

My own experience with fixing up deluxe model vintage cinema seats is pretty good. Infrequently we find a seat support spring has broken (not the ones inside the seat bottom, oddly enough) and regarding pads, upholstery, etc, you tend to get what you pay for, either in time or money!

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Matt Ashburn
Film Handler

Posts: 16
From: Martinsville, Virginia, USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 09-04-2000 02:44 PM

Give Premier Seating a try. They manufacture new seats, but they also have been known to reburbish seats, and they may want your old ones. I think they also strip old theatres for the used equipment. They're great people to work with, and the founder (Paul) is a heck of a nice guy.

Premier's website is http://www.premierseating.com/ and their phone # is 888-456-SEAT(7328).

-Matt Ashburn,
Hollywood Cinema
Martinsvile, VA

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Matt Ashburn
Film Handler

Posts: 16
From: Martinsville, Virginia, USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 09-04-2000 02:48 PM

On the topic of Citations, on their "restoration" page, Premier has a before & after shot of two Citation seats. Pretty imprssive.
http://www.premierseating.com/htmlcode/restoration.html

-Matt Ashburn
Hollywood Cinema
Martinsville, VA

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-26-2000 01:24 PM

You could do a Ticket draw for one every night. Some people would love to have one or two of them for their video rooms.
Mark

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