History of Movie Theater Concession Stand

Despite what may be called exhorbinate prices, the movie theater concession business still thrives and movie-goers still line up at sometimes over $15 to $20 a pop! But, it wasn't always this way. In fact, movie theater owners actually shunned the thought of serving any foods or snacks in their theaters! Theaters in the early days focused on it's target market of upper echelon customers, not those that would fancy the cheap snack or beverage.

Early in the first decade of the 20th century, inexpensive movie theaters, called nickelodeons, noted for their operation of a five cent theater running movies almost continuously, began cropping up on neighborhood and small town streets. The nickelodeons featured a pianist or organist, playing accompaniment to the action or drama taking place on the screen. Becoming increasingly popular among Americans, the nickelodeons flourished from 1900 to 1910 and continued on into the next decade. The concept was simple and soon hundreds of enterprising entrepreneurs jumped on the lucrative opportunity. By 1907 over 3,000 of these small theaters had opened up shop, and by the middle of the following decade, nearly 30 percent of Americans were going to the movies at least once a week! Imagine just how large this market was becoming! Nearly a third of the population! Snack foods and beverages, or concessions, were not actually sold within the theater establishments. Rather, the theaters were surrounded by businesses selling snack foods and beverages that were brought in to the theaters. And, other enterprising folks actually sold their wares within the isles of the theater themselves! That's right, just like at stadium ball games, peanut, popcorn and candy vendors hawked their wares! While the nickelodeons had a so-called brief tenure, with their swift demise with the arrival of "Feature Films" in 1915, the concession business survived and grew exponentially, in fact.

Today, concessions are the mainstay and principal revenue generators of the movie theater business. The National Association of Theater Owners purports approximately 40 percent of a movie theaters' net revenue is obtained through the sale of concessions. This was not the case in the twenties and thirties. After the demise of the nickelodeons, movie “Palaces” began to populate the urban landscape. These palaces had no provision for cheap, tacky “snack foods”. They were shunned and not tolerated! Movie palace operators were to remain upscale and the trite “smacking” on cheap snacks had no place. That was the environment of the burlesque shows and street corner nickelodeons. With arrival of the Great Depression, things were to change.

Hurting for cash and hard pressed for money like everyone else, theater operators, seeking additional sources of revenue, turned to the idea of offering their own concessions, under their sole control. They took over the business from the enterprising vendors hawking their wares in their theater and shut them out. It didn’t take long for theater operators to realize the potential power of the “aroma” of fresh popped popcorn. By the mid 1930s, popcorn production was so cheap and easy that theater operators could market a bag of fresh popcorn for 10 cents a bag and still return a nice profit margin! And, priced at 10 cents, movie-goers, though hard pressed for cash, could still manage a purchase.

During the mid thirties and beyond, the importance of concessions in movie theaters grew. In fact, the concessions began to even become incorporated into the design of the theater itself! Not only was popcorn the focus of the early concessions, but new candies and snacks were becoming readily available. JuJu Bees, Juicy Fruits, Babe Ruth, Milk Duds and the like began to come to the front line. However, with the onset of World War II, sugar products were rationed and were cut back tremendously. Popcorn, on the other hand, carried the concessionaires through these tough times. There was just NO stopping the popcorn/movie theater relationship. Once the war was over, sugar returned to the concession counter, bringing with it not only the candies and snacks, but a new popular item; colas! A whole new revenue front-runner: sugar-sweetened beverages! The modern concession stand had been born. Snack foods and beverages took hold in the movie theater as not only an enticing revenue booster, but, a business requirement! Movie-goers essentially required movie houses to entertain them with appealing feature films, and at the same time, they must be accompanied by flavorful, fresh “Fun Foods”.

This popularity led to the intense focus on the concession stand as prime real estate within the theater. The concession stand took prominence. Front and center. The concession stand had come full circle. Shunned in the early days as cheap and tacky, the concession stand now accounted for nearly half the revenue of the establishment. And, with nearly a half interest in the business, the concession stand was given the attention and focus it deserved.

MEG Concession Supply realizes the importance of Fun Foods and Concessions to the consumer. That’s why we’re committed to offering only top quality fun food and concession products from only name brand national concession equipment and supply manufacturers. Fun Foods is OUR focus, just as it has been of the movie theater industry for nearly a century.