Turf wars could benefit producers and retailers
Jeff Linville, Staff Writer -- Furniture Today, October 3, 2005
The town I live in has 8,000 people, so imagine my surprise when I heard a developer was building a 10-screen multiplex when we already had a five-screen movie theater a mile away. Watching the new challenger take on the incumbent reminded me a bit of Las Vegas and High Point.
The old, established theater had first choice of movies. The new place had twice the movie options, stadium seating and two children's party rooms. The old place might have featured first-run movies, but the new one had pizzazz. One trip to watch "The Polar Express" was enough to convince me the new theater was more than just another option. It was a serious threat to the old location.
I hoped the two theaters would get into a turf war, offering bargain tickets and reduced popcorn prices. But the new cinema soon gobbled up all the moviegoers and, within eight months, the old theater had closed.
I know any analogy between theaters and furniture markets is far from perfect. Manufacturers have money invested in High Point and, unlike the old theater, High Point still has a lot more space and options.
But Vegas is set to grow quickly, and already has generated serious buzz. Like movie theaters, furniture markets can have the same product on display. A company can do a lot of business at both locations, and "The Dukes of Hazzard" is lame on any screen, so it becomes a matter of how you package the entire experience.
High Point isn't sitting back and letting its market perish without a fight, like the old theater did. Work is going on now on Commerce Street to improve the transportation terminal, and the International Home Furnishings Market Authority no doubt has other ideas up its sleeve.
As for my old movie theater, the owners could have tried some things that have worked elsewhere. For instance, The Palace 20 in Boca Raton, Fla., has an upstairs restaurant and bar, giving new meaning to "dinner and a movie." Emagine Entertainment, which runs three megaplex theaters in Michigan, has full bars and allows customers to take drinks to their seats.
National Amusements, which runs 86 theaters, has two new ones with a concierge desk to help with post-movie dinner reservations and taxis. President Shari Redstone also has started special programs like movie classics and alternative entertainment, such as live comedy and sporting events, showing Red Sox games on the big screen in their New England theaters.
As far as promoting one market over another, that's not my job. Or, as we Southerners say, "I don't have a dog in this fight."
A turf war, however, could benefit both manufacturers and retailers in a number of ways. We'll just have to see how it plays out.
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