soapy
Senior Member
I was trying to think of other industries that have gone through similar evolutions like car washes. One that came to mind is movie theatres.
It seemed to me that the original single movie theatre that was a staple of most of towns mirrors that of a full service wash. The movie equivilent of a SS wash would be a drive inn movie theatre. You give up some of the comforts of a regular theatre for an experience that has less frills but is more of a hands on experience. They existed together for many years until certain outside factors started to influence them. For a drive in theatre the value of the the land it sat on made other uses more profitable and led to a huge decline in the number of drive ins. Full service washes like a regular movie theatre have started to see changes also. I think of the new multiplex theatres as the Express Exterior wash. They are geared up to maximize through put of people. They are putting pressure on the traditional theatres by offering a different kind of experience.
The demographics of theatres and washes are very similar. For example if you tried to build a Multiplex theatre in a town under 50,000 you would probably be in for a loosing proposition. They need to be built in larger metropolitan areas to succeed. In smaller communities the traditional theatre or drive in can still succeed. Much the same way that a regular tunnel or SS wash serves the need of the community. An express exterior seems to need a population base of around 75,000 per wash to succeed. A common held notion is that each SS bay needs 2500 people and each IBA should have at least 10,000. I am sure movie screens have certain population figures they go by also. As they used to say " Save me an aisle seat and May your bays always be wet".
It seemed to me that the original single movie theatre that was a staple of most of towns mirrors that of a full service wash. The movie equivilent of a SS wash would be a drive inn movie theatre. You give up some of the comforts of a regular theatre for an experience that has less frills but is more of a hands on experience. They existed together for many years until certain outside factors started to influence them. For a drive in theatre the value of the the land it sat on made other uses more profitable and led to a huge decline in the number of drive ins. Full service washes like a regular movie theatre have started to see changes also. I think of the new multiplex theatres as the Express Exterior wash. They are geared up to maximize through put of people. They are putting pressure on the traditional theatres by offering a different kind of experience.
The demographics of theatres and washes are very similar. For example if you tried to build a Multiplex theatre in a town under 50,000 you would probably be in for a loosing proposition. They need to be built in larger metropolitan areas to succeed. In smaller communities the traditional theatre or drive in can still succeed. Much the same way that a regular tunnel or SS wash serves the need of the community. An express exterior seems to need a population base of around 75,000 per wash to succeed. A common held notion is that each SS bay needs 2500 people and each IBA should have at least 10,000. I am sure movie screens have certain population figures they go by also. As they used to say " Save me an aisle seat and May your bays always be wet".
