]
A business has to stay open somehow, though, and for a movie theater that means filling the seats. On a random Sunday months ago, I paid for a pair of tickets to check out a flick and was only charged $10. The stubs read “economy” on them, a sign of the times, with a $5 cost for each. Better yet, the concession stand basically offered a two-for-one deal on nachos I ordered. Together, the whole day out cost less then $20! My favorite movie theater in Orange County just got better.
Another recent trip on a Sunday, like the time before it, was bargain priced, again, at $10 for a pair of tickets. The only difference was that word had noticeably begun to spread around. A long line stood outside the box office and the theaters were actually filled with people; lots of them. I told my friend not too long ago about the promotional deal to which he replied, “Man, I've been knowing about that, dogg.”
My best kept secret was becoming more popular with its discount day seemingly now common knowledge. Given that reality, I placed a call to Regal Entertainment Group to get the full story. “Value Days started several months ago in different markets throughout the country,” Robbie Arrington, Regal's Marketing Manager tells me. “Garden Grove is Sundays only with all movies, all day for just $5.”
Arrington had no data available on if the deal was increasing patronage, but noted “word about things like Value Days spreads through our Regal Crown Club program and members enrolled in it.” Sundays were chosen for Regal Cinemas Garden Grove as he informed me that they were typically slower days. For the marketing manager, the idea behind Value Days is to try to make the movie going experience available to more people. “With normal ticket prices and the economy being the way it is, people are pushed out,” he says. “Lowering the price of admission to five dollars helps make the experience attainable to everyone.”
Gabriel San Román is from Anacrime. He’s a journalist, subversive historian and the tallest Mexican in OC. He also once stood falsely accused of writing articles on Turkish politics in exchange for free food from DönerG’s!