By Jim McCarthy Jan 6, 2011 0 comments

Food, It’s What For Dinner

I’ve talked about this several times, but this is another piece of evidence to suggest how strong this trend is.

BREAKING NEWS: People Really Like to Eat.

What I mean by that is that food, as a sensory experience that goes beyond being a mere spectator, has become a more and more important part of the mindshare that people devote to entertainment.  This story in the Wall Street Journal talks about the rise of movie theatres where food, not just overpriced junk food, is served.  Here’s a key tidbit:

“…in-theater dining represents one of the movie-theater industry’s biggest bets to expand its static audience size.  ‘I am one hundred percent sure that these theaters are the future of movie-going,’ says Jeffrey Katzenberg, an industry veteran who once served as studio chairman at Walt Disney Co. and is now chief executive of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. “These new theaters really up the quality of experience because they require a high degree of service that movie theaters have lost.”

There’s a Gold Class theatre here in Pasadena, too, and I’ve been a couple times.  While I’m not a total convert, I have to say that sitting in a lounge chair, having pinot noir brought to me alongside a nicely cooked steak sandwich, separated by several feet from anybody but my date does make the experience feel different, better, and special thank piling into a seat alongside 300 other people and munching on milk duds.  And I like milk duds.

So, live entertainment folks, what do you make of this?  Are you prepared to react as the marketplace sorts this out?  Or are you going to concede this territory to the movie industry?

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