Stats on high-end theaters

From a Time Magazine article this month headlined, Is Luxury the Ticket?, some interesting data on how well deluxe new movie theater concepts are doing.

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen writes:

In a down market, the boutique theater chain Muvico, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., company with 12 theaters in three states, has managed to boost attendance 2% this year. National Amusements, run by Viacom heir apparent Shari Redstone, is expanding its upscale Cinema de Lux brand of theaters, which sells 35% more tickets per theater than its sibling brands. At Pacific Theatre Co.'s swinging ArcLight Cinemas in Los Angeles, attendance has swelled 25% over the past two years. Says Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co., a box- office--tracking firm in Encino, Calif.: "It's counterintuitive--if attendance is down, why would you invest more in a theater?--but this template is one that is working."

Muvico's CEO is bullish on the next couple years, predicting 30-40 percent revenue growth annually. (In the pic at right is the Muvico Egyptian, in Hanover, Maryland.)