When you’re running a theater, cinema, or stadium, a successful concession stand is your venue’s backbone. As a staple of American recreational activities—from football games to movie nights out—your concession stand is a crucial part of your customers’ happiness and satisfaction (almost as crucial as choosing the perfect seats!).
Use this page for tips and tricks on how to run the best concession stand possible and get your customers coming back for more.
1. Choose the Right Foods
Providing the right kinds of food is crucial to ensuring your concession stand’s success. Obviously, some of your food choices will be predetermined by the type of event your venue hosts: no one would dream of running a cinema concessions stand without popcorn, and a stadium concessions stand without hot dogs and nachos is practically unheard of.
No matter what type of event you’re hosting, though, make sure to keep your menu simple and offer foods that sell. Don’t try anything too fancy: stick to the basics, and make sure the food you offer is easy to assemble. This way, your patrons can leave the concession stand and get back to their game or movie as quickly as possible. The combination of good food with fast service will be key to ensuring your success.
Depending on your crowd, it might also be wise to offer some healthy options, such as yogurt or fruit. Many patrons are desperate for a healthy snack—if your concession stand exceeds their health food expectations, they won’t forget about you in a hurry.
If you need some basic ideas about what to include, try adding the following to your shopping list:
- Hot dogs plus condiments (ketchup, mustard, and relish packets)
- Potato chips
- Pickles
- Cotton candy
- Apples, bananas, and oranges
- Water, soda pop, and coffee
- Nacho chips and cheese
2. Delegate Responsibility
Before you even open your stand, decide which tasks are crucial to your business’s success. If you establish specific tasks for each employee you’ll be more likely to eliminate confusion when your stand opens and floods with customers. Each task should be taken care of quickly and efficiently.
You likely need someone (or several someones) to fulfill each of these tasks:
- Sales
- Stocking
- Maintenance and cleanliness
- Inventory purchasing
- Set up and take down (for temporary concession stands)
As with any job, make sure your employees are aware of your expectations. Communicate clearly and be consistent. If you clearly assign responsibilities and outline your expectations, your employees will be able to move customer lines along much quicker. Remember, happy employees mean happy customers!
3. Keep it Clean
No one wants to purchase food from an unsanitary concession stand. Make sure your stand is as neat and clean as possible. Clear up sticky spills as soon as you can, and always clean up before shutting down the stand.
Your food should also be sanitary. Keep food preparation areas clean and protected from a busy crowd. Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. You should also acquire the necessary food preparation permits required in your state.
To encourage customers to buy from your concession stand, you should also put some thought into presentation. Your food should look appetizing, and the more the customers can see the food, the more willing they are to buy it. Take some extra time to maximize your stand’s display—you won’t be disappointed.
4. Inventory Your Supplies
There’s nothing worse than showing up to open your stand right before a game and realizing you’re out of hot dog buns. Keep a detailed inventory of everything you sell at your stand and make sure you always have enough food for the anticipated crowd. If you run out of one item by the end of the day, make a note to restock it before the next event.
Once you’ve worked several events, you’ll have a better grasp of the most popular products and can order extras of the items that are quickest to disappear.
5. Be Prepared
Your popcorn maker might break right before the baseball game starts. Your cooler might malfunction, leaving all your water bottles at room temperature. It’s hard to anticipate emergencies, which is why you and your employees should always be prepared.
Arrive early to prepare your stand for the long day ahead. Have enough supplies on hand to feed extra customers. And always practice preventative maintenance: if you take good care of your popcorn maker, chances are it will take care of you.
6. Visit Other Concessions Stands
If this is your first time running a concession stand, it can’t hurt to take a look around and see what other stands do well. Which concession stands offer the best foods? Which ones provide the fastest service? Where are you consistently impressed by the service?
If you like what you see, try to implement similar tactics and strive for similar outcomes. Don’t be afraid to ask other concession stand managers for help or advice.
When you follow these six tips, your stand will be on its way to the concessions hall of fame in no time! Your customers will be thanking you for making their favorite event that much better as they nestle into their comfortable seats with a delicious bag of popcorn.
