Perhaps I should have been more specific. That's the business model that I'm willing to support with my consumer dollars. If the business actually has a different model, and is deceptively trying to pretend it is a movie theater, it deserves to be called out on that.
I go to a movie theater to see movies. I don't go to an concession stand that happens to also show movies to buy candy, liquid candy, and popcorn at grossly overinflated prices. I can get all of those things at better price, selection, and quality from businesses that don't have theaters attached. Those businesses have no problems covering their overhead and operating costs without showing the movies. And I can't help noticing that they always have plenty of employees manning the popcorn machines, but whenever I have to find someone to fix the sound or picture on the movie, there are tumbleweeds blowing through the corridors.
It's the same reason I don't go into the secure area of an airport to buy sandwiches and coffee. I go to an airport to board a plane and go somewhere else. If I consider buying sandwiches on the way, they had better be the same price and quality as those found in a mall food court, where people are free to come and go, or those businesses are not getting my money. They never are, so I bring food through security if I can't just wait to eat until reaching my destination.
It is one thing to charge more because you are offering a convenience. It is another thing entirely to charge more because you are compensating for an artificially imposed inconvenience. The former is acceptable, and the latter is deplorable.
I go to a movie theater to see movies. I don't go to an concession stand that happens to also show movies to buy candy, liquid candy, and popcorn at grossly overinflated prices. I can get all of those things at better price, selection, and quality from businesses that don't have theaters attached. Those businesses have no problems covering their overhead and operating costs without showing the movies. And I can't help noticing that they always have plenty of employees manning the popcorn machines, but whenever I have to find someone to fix the sound or picture on the movie, there are tumbleweeds blowing through the corridors.
It's the same reason I don't go into the secure area of an airport to buy sandwiches and coffee. I go to an airport to board a plane and go somewhere else. If I consider buying sandwiches on the way, they had better be the same price and quality as those found in a mall food court, where people are free to come and go, or those businesses are not getting my money. They never are, so I bring food through security if I can't just wait to eat until reaching my destination.
It is one thing to charge more because you are offering a convenience. It is another thing entirely to charge more because you are compensating for an artificially imposed inconvenience. The former is acceptable, and the latter is deplorable.