As published in Toledo Business Journal - November 1, 2019

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The Bryan Theatre’s renovated marquee

Drive-in theater owners grow business with Bryan Theatre

Toledo Business Journal (TBJ) previously reported on a northwest Ohio drive-in theater company facing a major issue with its business that required new capital funding in 2013.

At that time, Donna and Rodney Saunders, owners of the Field of Dreams Drive-In Theaters™ located in Liberty Township and Tiffin, obtained financing through the US Small Business Administration (SBA) and two area banks to upgrade all four 35 millimeter (mm) projectors to new Christie digital projectors. This was done to ensure their ability to continue to receive first run movies from the movie studios, which were putting significant pressure on independent theaters to make the switch to digital projectors.

“We were going to go out of business if we didn’t get those loans. The movie studios aren’t producing film anymore, so without the digital equipment, The Henry County Bank, Sutton Bank, and the SBA loans, we couldn’t be showing movies anymore,” Rodney previously said in an interview with TBJ.

After installing the projectors, sales soared in 2013 and the company’s success has continued.

Then in 2018, the owners decided to expand its operations and purchased the historic Bryan Theatre located in the square in downtown Bryan.

“As northwest Ohio residents and theater owners, the Bryan Theatre has been on our radar since 2014. It had been declining in sales while the movie theater industry has continued to grow. Rod and I saw this as a good business opportunity,” said Donna.

Donna explained that they were intrigued with the square in downtown Bryan, as it has a magical personality that is grounded by the Bryan Theatre.

“We enjoyed Father John’s restaurant long before we purchased the Bryan Theatre, Kora’s was being built, and there were good things happening in downtown Bryan. We thought we could help build that momentum,” explained Donna.

Although the Bryan Theatre had been converted to digital projectors, Donna noted that few other updates have been done in some time.

“There was really no vision or direction for the Bryan Theatre with the previous owners – they had other priorities. Rod and I knew we could bring the Bryan Theatre back to life with some changes focused on customer needs, as well as our energy and theater management experience,” said Donna.

According to Donna, some of the changes included updating customer-facing services, such as accepting credit cards and offering online ticketing, as well as redecorating the inside of the theater with a new color scheme.

“The updates needed to be done. We had experience with this and knew it would be easy to do,” said Donna.

But even with those updates, Donna and Rodney knew there were still two major capital improvements that needed focus – restoring the main marquee and adding a wheelchair accessible restroom to the first floor of the theater. The owners worked with the Maumee Valley Planning Organization (MVPO) to secure funding for these projects.

“Rod and I agreed even before we proceeded with the purchase that these were two major capital improvement projects to focus on,” said Donna.

According to Donna, the marquee was completely restored from top to bottom, including a new roof over the marquee, as the old roof was allowing rain to flow through it, ruining much of the electrical wiring; the paint was removed; new electrical work was done where needed and to get the automation working properly so the lights in “BRYAN” twinkled just right; LED lights were added behind the letter board to replace the old fluorescent lights; all of the light bulbs were replaced; and the old ruby red neon was replaced Bent Custom Neon based in Toledo.

As for the bathroom, Donna noted that it was necessary because the biggest complaint they received over the first year of owning the theater was from customers who had difficulty ascending and descending the stairs to use the restroom.

“As people of a ‘certain age’ and parents of an adult son with cerebral palsy, Rod and I understand firsthand the huge obstacle those stairs create for many of our customers. Some people stopped coming to the Bryan Theatre simply because they couldn’t access the restroom,” said Donna. “We would’ve loved to serve more of our aging population with quality entertainment in an historic theater – but they require and deserve an accessible restroom. Improving the Bryan Theatre to include an accessible restroom was not just a business decision – it was personal.”

The theater operates with one full-time manager and five to seven part-time staff on payroll at any one time. It also has different special events for different movies, as well as scheduled events for seniors every other Friday.

“We have a fantastic manager at the Bryan Theatre, as she is very creative and plans many special events themed after selected movies we feature. For example, customers could make ‘magic wands’ before a Harry Potter movie. And now that we have added a wheelchair accessible restroom on the first floor, we have scheduled special events for senior citizens every other Friday afternoon. These are just two examples of special events, but there’s plenty more throughout the year,” said Donna.

Donna also explained that the work required to operate an indoor theatre is significantly easier than operating a drive-in theater in regards to the work to open the doors, sell tickets / concessions, and run the movies.

“For one, the indoor theatre has a controlled and repetitive environment and requires fewer employees. You sell tickets, sell concessions, wait for the movie to end, clean the theatre, and repeat. Very little about a drive-in theater environment is controlled. What’s the weather like? What is the time of dusk? What’s the size of vehicles brought in to the drive-in? Are people parking properly? Are people’s headlights left on? Is the vehicle radio not working? At the drive-in theater, we only have one chance a night to get it right. We prepare and serve more food than simply popcorn, candy, and drinks,” said Donna.

“Lastly, the crowds at the drive-in are bigger because it is a once a night ‘event.’ It takes significantly more employees to manage the customers at the drive-in theatre – selling admission tickets through the car window, directing customers where to park, selling and preparing food to order, managing customers’ ability to see the screen, helping customers to turn off their vehicle lights to save their battery, waiting for first movie to end, selling food at intermission, closing concessions and cleaning concessions, waiting for the second movie to end, jumping vehicles who didn’t use accessory mode to listen to the movies, and then finally closing up. Sometimes, running the drive-in theater feels like herding cats,” said Donna.

In the first year of owning the Bryan Theatre, the Saunders doubled the attendance reported by the previous owner in 2017, and currently, its 2019 attendance figures are 19% higher than 2018.

Donna noted that they are not actively looking to purchase any other theaters, but if the right opportunity presented itself, they would look into it.