Comments

1

You don't have to go nonprofit to switch up the business model.

If McRae wants to succeed as an entrepreneur, he's either got to figure out how to draw crowds in to see "Where'd You Go, Bernadette," "The Farewell," and "Yesterday" at the height of blockbuster season, or he's going to have to rethink his for-profit business model.

There are options out there. Second-run, art house, subscription models, midnight movies, whatever. Personally I'd love to see a weekly rotation of "anything better than the insulting garbage the streaming services offer from the back catalog," but I've no idea if there are enough people like me (and cheap prints) to make it work.

2

Why not switch to the second-run model? The Crest does good business, and there are tons of people happy to wait a few months to see the latest blockbuster.

3

Arts organizations struggle when they assume they need to go the for-profit path. People are more excited to donate to non-profit arts organizations. The Ark Lodge should at least have coffee with SIFF and see how they could potentially make the shift work.

For-profit independent movie theaters will not become more lucrative over the next few years, especially if their is a looming recession and Columbia City keeps becoming less and less affordable to residents. Opening alcohol sales and/or shifting to a second-run movie theater could help stop the bleeding for a while but there are also risks that people will have already seen the films they are most interested in before they open at Ark Lodge, which could further decrease ticket and concession sales.

Pure capitalism will not save independent arts organizations like Ark Lodge but non-profit status and/or partnership with SIFF or another local arts nonprofit might.

4

Honestly, I think traffic is playing a part. I used to love going to different neighborhoods for dining, shopping or movies (10+ years ago). I'd go anywhere really. I live in Ballard and now there's no way I'd (try to) go to Columbia City for a movie. It would take me longer to get there and back than the actually show and that's just not time I'm willing to spend.

5

Sigh. Never mind driving from Ballard. I'd fly on a weekly basis from my midwestern location to Columbia City just for a movie at the Ark Lodge and a cone at Molly Moon's or Full Tilt. But MCRK, if you change your mind you can try to park in SoDo and light rail it the rest of the way.

6

Yeah, the Ark Lodge is a five-minute walk in a straight line from the light rail station - for anyone who can get to the train, going to Columbia City for a movie is easy and fun.

7

@4 -- You just typed exactly what I was going to say. Ballard here and we simply do not go south of Market Street before 8 PM. Ever. This has really broken our hearts because we both have some favorite restaurants on the Hill and further south that never see our faces (or wallets) anymore. Life is too short to wait 30 minutes to get through a traffic light. The upside? We've discovered some excellent restaurants in Ballard (Copine, Samara, Baker's, Skal, San Fermo, Sawyer...et al) and it's easy to do the straight shot east to Salare. :)

8

Interestingly, one side effect I've noticed of opening the tunnel is that you can get to Belltown pretty quickly from Ballard in the afternoon and evening. It turns out no one is driving that far south on 15th or Western because they can no longer use that route to get on 99. But Capitol Hill, yeah, not so much.

9

This is the third or fourth time they've done this begging for customers/money thing. Usually on Columbia City Facebook. Somehow they've made it through before, but we haven't seen much change in their tactics to make it all work. Fundraisers for a for-profit business are sad, and can only prolong the inevitable.

There are plenty of business in Columbia City that are doing fine, and while I like having a movie theater there, I think they should make room for someone else to give the spot a shot if they can't hack it. The landlord should find another entrepreneur or business owner who has a more successful track-record to rent to.

10

Can't imagine they wouldn't have already considered this were it an option, but do they sell licenses that allow for a bring-your-own-beer type model? When I lived in Baltimore there were restaurants that did this and not only was the cost to the establishment much less, but I got the impression the patrons got a kick out of it. Maybe even partner with a neighborhood beer/wine shop with a large local selection in an effort to drum up business for both spots.

12

meks, the people who run Ark Lodge have a long history of running theaters in Seattle. So I think they 'get it'. The entire market has changed especially with consolidation at the distributor level (Disney). They can powerplay smaller chains and independent theaters.
Someone mentioned The Crest, which is actually operated by Landmark. While a smaller chain, it is still part of a theater chain and thus can absorb shortages at a different pace than a single ownership like Ark Lodge.
Ark Lodge is a gem. For a city that talks about loving cinema it is sad that it lets theaters like The Guild 45th, Seven Gables, Harvard Exit, UA 150 to die and nearly lost The Egyptian and Cinerama.
Go see a movie at Ark Lodge is a great place, nice people, charming and a nice change to the megaplex 4D bring drinks to your seats junk that the large chains are pushing. If it were to close, another theater wouldn't replace it and probably get tore down for ikea cookie cutter condos.


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