Will Frankfurt get a new English movie theater?
After a few people asked whether I knew of a new movie theater opening in the new Palais Quartier and a reader commented on Shopping Mecca: Palais Quartier in Frankfurt, I did even more research on the possibility of a new English movie theater being built.
Well, I hate to disappoint you, but it seems very unlikely. Here are some of the facts:
At a hefty rental fee of € 485 per qm in the new Palais Quartier, only big brand merchandise can make a profit.
Consider this – the monthly rental fee for a 50-qm shop at the listed qm price will be € 24.250,–!
An average-size movie theater like the Turmpalast covers an area of 3600 qm (7 show rooms, 1163 seats) and this concludes:
3600 qm X € 485 =
€ 1.746.000,– in monthly rent.
(one million seven hundred forty-six thousand Euros)
You’d have to sell an awful lot of pop corn and Coke – the real and only profit margin- to bring in this part of the overhead.
So, the likelihood of a new English movie theater is nill. Patrons have complained about the shape of the current movie theater. Very soon they might regret it, because it is all we have left until 2010. There are plans to tear down the current Turmpalast (property is owned by Frankfurt City) to build two residential skyscrapers instead.
Frankfurt might be left without a movie theater showing box-office films in English. This would be a real loss to the city.
Granted, some people like to stay at home and watch a DVD instead, which they might find more comfortable and cheaper. But there is a social value when people get out of the house, keep communicating face-to-face, and bring some revenues into town.
What are you going to do when the doors finally close in 2010?
Tags: English box-office films, planned closing in 2010, Tower movie theater, Turmpalast
November 7th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
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December 10th, 2008 at 2:44 am
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