Walmart to offer drive in movie theaters at 160 store parking lots

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
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Walmart to offer drive in movie theaters at 160 store parking lots

Post by cjd »

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Re: Walmart to offer drive in movie theaters at 160 store parking lots

Post by Alpha8472 »

People once again are looking for escapist entertainment. They want to forget about their worries and have some good old fashioned fun. Even in the Great Depression people went to the movies and bought popcorn. It was an affordable luxury.

There is going to be a resurgence of drive in movie theaters all over the country. They are easily set up wherever people can park cars and now there are portable movie screens that can be set up.

All Walmarts seem to close at 8:30 pm now. This is perfect as once the customers are gone the movies can start.

Some of those dying malls could be converted to drive in theaters too. There is plenty of parking after the malls close for the day. Maybe some of the movie theater customers will shop in the mall before they see a movie.
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Re: Walmart to offer drive in movie theaters at 160 store parking lots

Post by storewanderer »

I heard some Wal Marts are starting to close at 10 PM again, but I can't seem to find where they are.
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Re: Walmart to offer drive in movie theaters at 160 store parking lots

Post by Alpha8472 »

Those must be in very low crime rich suburbs.

The Walmart in Richmond, California closes at 5 PM. Richmond is such a high crime city that going out after 7 PM is risking your life. There are muggings, carjackings, drug deals gone wrong, drive by shootings, etc. The employees probably need at least 2 hours to clean and barricade the store every night after closing.

This Walmart is probably one step away from closing down. It has enough business from the low income shoppers but it is vulnerable to shoplifting and looting. After sundown, nobody in their right mind should leave their home.

A drive in theater would not work anywhere near this store.
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Re: Walmart to offer drive in movie theaters at 160 store parking lots

Post by storewanderer »

Isn't that the Wal Mart at the mall in Richmond? What hours are the department stores in that mall having?

It looks like the Macys at Richmond Mall is open until 7 PM. Surprised that is still open.

Also Sears is still operating at Richmond Mall? Shows as temporarily closed so I guess it never reopened?

I see FoodsCo in Richmond, CA is open 7 AM to Midnight. That store is deep in... the area around the mall feels much safer. Surprised to see it is open so late.
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Re: Walmart to offer drive in movie theaters at 160 store parking lots

Post by SamSpade »

Off Topic
The nearby Walmart Neighborhood Market has restored its hours to 7 am to 10 pm, but it appears all supercenters in our region are still 7 am to 8:30 pm and probably a few lower volume neighborhood markets. Near my parents home, the more urbanized community (still only around 100k) is closing at 8:30 but the other 3 nearby communities are open until 10.
The drive in theater idea is pretty great and that's not too many Walmart stores, maybe they will try it in communities with low COVID-19 cases that are far flung from reopened community spaces or traditional drive in cinemas, movie in the park, etc.

I read they were going to encourage folks to buy "drive in essentials" before the movie started, perhaps some Walmarts still sell freshly popped popcorn? I suppose other ideas for this would be seating options, candy, bottled (or fountain) soda, hot dogs?
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Re: Walmart to offer drive in movie theaters at 160 store parking lots

Post by Alpha8472 »

Walmart is open, but indoor area of Hilltop Mall is closed. JCPenney has been closed since 2017. If a store has exterior doors, they can open. Sears has not reopened. That store went viral with videos of looters stealing from the store. This was before the recent riots.

Hilltop Mall is now called The Shops at Hilltop By The Bay. The mall does not care about the stores. They advertise mixed use. The company that runs it is building a hotel and residential units. It is all about real estate.

The JCPenney closed down due to many factors. An employee said he was transferring to the Concord store with a $2 pay cut. The minimum wage in Richmond is higher than other cities in the region. Labor costs were 19 percent higher than in Concord. No wonder why all these stores want to close their Richmond stores.
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