posted 08-02-2007 11:29 AM                       

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Drive-in theaters charging $5 fee to bring in your own food
Some struggling theater owners in the area charge $5 fee for patrons to bring their own food so the screens won't go dark
Monday, July 30, 2007
John Horton
Plain Dealer Reporter
Munson Township -- Don Ross paid $21 Friday night for a parking spot fronting the big screen at the Mayfield Road Drive-In. Sixteen dollars bought admission for his family of four; the rest covered his cooler.

Under new house rules at the outdoor theater, forking over five bucks for a one-night "food license" stands as the only way to bring munchies for the movies.

Basically, Ross' two bottles of Pepsi, sack of McDonald's grub and bag of Doritos needed a ticket.

"If that's what it takes to keep the place open," the Eastlake man said, "I'll give 'em the money."

The pay-to-pack policy is flickering to life at a smattering of drive-in box offices across the country, part of an effort to boost revenues and keep the struggling icons operating.

The ultimate goal of the rule is to discourage outside food and steer more patrons to profitable onsite concessions.

Three of Greater Cleveland's five drive-ins -- North Ridgeville's Aut-O-Rama Twin; Munson Township's Mayfield Road; and Ravenna's Midway Twin -- now charge the fee.

The owner of the other two local venues said he'd consider adopting the rule for next summer.

"But I'm very, very torn over it," said Gary Greive, who oversees the Blue Sky Drive-In in Wadsworth and the Magic City Drive-In in Barberton. "It's tough to make that change after all these years."

Why? Call it tradition.

Emptying the pantry into the car to satisfy the urge to nibble through a double feature stands as a time-honored family tradition at the drive-in. It's right up there with packing pajamas for the kids so they can fall asleep in the back seat after intermission.

Asking customers to pay to keep that perk is "fairly controversial" within the industry, said drive-in promoter Jennifer Sherer Janisch.

She said only a small portion of the nation's nearly 400 remaining outdoor theaters have adopted the policy since it premiered a decade ago near Baltimore.

Typically, box office workers ask patrons whether they're bringing food and inform them of the license (there are also signs alerting visitors as they come in). Staff members also walk around to check if anyone sneaked some food through. Some venues will double the license fee for violators.

"Some places that were thinking of doing it shied away" given worries over upsetting visitors and losing business, said Janisch, who operates the Web site Drive-ins.com.

But supporters call the fee a matter of survival.

The Aut-O-Rama added the surcharge last year to boost the bottom line. Owner Deb Sherman said she heard objections throughout the season; one angry patron even called local police.

But despite the rough transition, the policy paid off. Sherman said the fee - plus increased business at the concession stand, where any theater makes most of its money - helped finance some of the first improvements in years at the screens along Lorain Road.

Sherman said she has heard little grumbling about the fee this year.

"We're not trying to take every last dollar out of people's pockets," Sherman said. "We're just trying to stay open."

The opening previews at the Mayfield Road Drive-In on Friday night told the grim tale of drive-ins, and how more than 90 percent of those operating four decades ago now exist only as memories. The short feature implored viewers to patronize the snack bar.

Owner John Knepp - who also runs the Midway Twin in Portage County - said most people understand the reason for the extra charge once it's explained.

Customers camped in front of the big screen along U.S. 322 on Friday seemed accepting of the new rule. Out of eight license holders surveyed before the late-night feature started, only one criticized the charge. (Scott Davis of Eastlake called the charge "tacky.")

The rest said the fee's a small price to pay to keep their coolers and help the drive-in. "It's better doing this than having them close," said Jill Calabrese of Richmond Heights, as she watched her 3-year-old daughter run around in the twilight before the show. "I'd hate to see a day where our kids couldn't experience this."

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posted 08-06-2007 03:39 PM                      

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The opening previews at the Mayfield Road Drive-In on Friday night told the grim tale of drive-ins, and how more than 90 percent of those operating four decades ago now exist only as memories. The short feature implored viewers to patronize the snack bar.

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...in a trailer commissioned by Jim Goble and produced by yours truly!