The most interesting kind of place to watch a movie wasn't even affected by COVID
Stardust Drive-In Representitive: Jasmine - Manager
The final movie theatre I was able to interview was the Stardust Drive-In, where I spoke to
Jasmine, the manager who's been working there since the age of 16 and has worked up all the way to management. Prior to the lockdown, the drive-in was doing relatively bad (although still decent) compared to recent seasons. The drive-in's performance usually depended on the stages of lockdown with Ontario's government. If restaurants and normal theatres were closed, employees found themselves to be quite busy. The reason being that with lockdown, "people were really desperate and anxious to leave their homes and find something to do, so they would come here. I imagine its because we don't require vaccination receipts since people are required to stay in their cars, so anyone could come," says Jasmine, manager of the drive-in.
With the beginning of the lockdown, the theatres capacity went down to half of what they used to have, which comes to about 450 cars. Employees estimated the theatre to be less busy, however, the drive-in sold out of tickets everyday. With their booming business, manager Jasmine found herself scrambling to figure out more team-building exercises so as to keep employees happy.
Jasmine also became more organized with cleaning more often, especially touch services, putting up santizing stations, signs, pylons, and flags to keep organization and social distancing. One of the biggest issues Jasmine faced was the food shortage in Ontario. Jasmine was calling and visiting as many suppliers as she could to find horseradish and pickles to sell to customers, which were key ingredients in their popular foods sold.
As the theatre became more popular, the drive-in was getting many people from town's as far as Scarborough, Berrie, and Toronto. With their newfound populairty, the theatre decided to switch to online tickets, tickets were no longer sold in-person, which became a bit of an issue for those who didn't know about the new rule. Jasmine states that "When Covid hopefully goes away eventually, we might keep the online ticket sales in addition to in-person sales. It's easier, and far more effecient."
As more people came, the drive-in started offering package deals as opposed ot charging per person. Where they used to charge $10 per adult and $3 per kid, the theatre started selling packages where customers could actually save some money and watch several movies in one visit. Sometimes, certain deals would involve more films than normally put into one visit, free of charge. Their business was doing so well, the theatre actually lowered their prices by a little as a way to give back to their customers. The manager of the Stardust Drive-In claims that if we were to go back into a complete lockdown (only essentials open), they would be drastically affected within the first few months, especially if its in their busy season; summer. Depending on how badly they would be affected will influence how late the drive-in wants to stay open into the end of the year.
Within a time of lockdwon, Jasmine stresses the importance of team-building among employees as it was what made the theatre a happy place to work as an employee. Unfortunately, the Stardust Drive-In is not a company that is eligible to support staff in times of lockdown, so Jasmine tries her best to stay in touch with employees as a way to support them if needed. Whether there be a lockdown or not, Jasmine always stays in-touch with employees, especially the university students who are more in need of the money that comes with the job. When lockdown or restrictions lift and the theatre finally opens, Jasmine finds herself free of hte burden of having to rehire as most employees usually want to come back to the seemingly positive work environment.
Overall, Jasmine believes Covid to actually be good for the business, where she did have small issues that didn't affect the business terribly. She hopes to keep package deals, as well as online ticket sales and hopes for people to visit drive-ins more often. When restrictions are lifted, Jamsine hopes for people to come back and enjoy their time at the drive-in where they can be offered dinner and the liberty to sit outside if they please.
The Stardust Drive-In has become really popular over the past year and hoeps to continue this streak of new costumers. They have several locations across Canada where you can check out their theatre. If you ever want to check out their website, here's the link down below:
Have you ever been to a drive-in? Tell us about your experiences in the comments down below!
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