The trend is impossible to ignore. Nearly every investor presentation from North America’s biggest exhibition chains highlights enhanced seating options as the best way to maintain a competitive edge in the market. Seating upgrades are quickly becoming a staple of today’s exhibition world as both large circuits and local players alike compete in an arms race to enhance customer comfort. Luxury seating formed part of Marcus Theatres’s $50 million investment in premium features across its circuit, a push that also included large-format screens and expanded food and beverage concepts. The company plans to continue expanding its seating options in 2015 after installing its DreamLounger premium recliners at eight of its theaters across six states this year. AMC is crediting recliner seats as a catalyst for enhancing the productivity of existing assets after average attendance in theaters with premium seating options went up by 76 percent despite a seat loss of 62 percent. The company has deployed recliner seats across 505 screens in 44 locations. Regal, the largest exhibitor in the United States, plans to have recliner seats at approximately 25 sites by the end of year.
这个趋势已经不能熟视无睹了。几乎来自北美最大院线的每位投资者的陈述都强调，增强座椅选择是在市场上保持竞争优势的最佳方式。座椅升级迅速成为如今影院界主流，大院线和本地影院都同样参与这场装备竞赛，提升客户的舒适度。在Marcus影院5000万美元投资款中，豪华座椅是其院线优质功能的组成部分，提升内容还包括大尺寸银幕、添加食物与饮品概念。该公司在旗下跨6个州的8家影院内安装高端Dreamlounger可调式座椅后，今年计划继续扩大其座椅选择。AMC拥有高级座椅选择的影院的平均上座率上涨了76% ，尽管座位减少62%，因此它将可调式座椅当作提升现有资产生产率的催化剂, 。该公司已在44个地点的505张银幕安置了可调式座椅。美国最大的院线Regal计划年底在大约25个站点安装可调式座椅。
Seating manufacturers who contributed to this story all noticed an uptick in interest toward luxury seating around the turn of the current decade. Seating Concepts is a fifteen-year veteran in luxury-seat manufacturing but only began to see more of an emphasis in this type of offering over the past three years. “The concept was popular among exhibitors already active in premium offerings, like Cinepolis and iPic, but I started noticing a more widespread appeal after AMC installed luxury seating and other players saw their success,” admits Marixa Flores, cinema sales manager for Seating Concepts. Dolphin Seating had a similar experience with its premium offerings. “Our factory has been making luxury seating for the European market for many years,” explains Dolphin Seating’s Sam Snell. “Now that the U.S. market has become interested in luxury cinema seating over the last few years, we started focusing on the requirements of luxury seating and recliners in the U.S.”
造就这个故事的座椅厂商都注意到，对豪华座椅兴趣的攀升是在当前十年之交。座椅概念是经营豪华座椅长达15年的老字号，但只在过去三年里才看到更多对这类服务的偏重。“这种概念在活跃于高端市场的影院里已经流行，如Cinepolis与iPic，我开始注意到AMC安装豪华座椅后获得更广泛的吸引力，且其他商家看到了他们的成功，”座椅概念影院销售经理玛利亚·弗洛雷斯承认。Dolphin座椅的增值服务有相似的经验。“我们工厂为欧洲市场制造豪华座椅多年，”Dolphin座椅的萨姆·斯内尔解释道。“过去几年里，美国市场已经开始对豪华影院座椅产生兴趣，在美国我们开始专注于豪华座椅与可调式座椅的需求。”
Krian Cinema is a relative newcomer to the luxury-seating scene. The company began developing seating this year after noticing that premium offerings were more than simply the latest fad. Rob Poindexter, international sales manager for Krian, points to the central role that luxury seating has taken in the exhibition world. “The reality for most theaters in the current marketplace is either do it now and keep the market share you have or let your competitor do it first and lose some of your market share to them,” he says. The stress of keeping up with the competition has especially affected smaller exhibitors still recovering from the costs associated with the digital conversion. After devoting a large investment to keeping up with larger players at the projection booth, local exhibitors are now facing the challenge to upgrade their seating in order to maintain a competitive edge. Krian is marketing itself to these exhibitors with a low down payment with a per-admission-ticket revenue-share program, offering financing as low as $99 down with 50 cents per ticket sold. “Pretty soon, most theaters will be faced with a choice,” continues Poindexter. “Either make these seating upgrades or be relegated to a discount-theater status.”
Krian影院是新近加入的豪华座椅场所。该公司注意到增值服务不仅仅是简单的最新时尚以后，今年开始发展座椅。Krian国际销售经理罗布·波因德克斯特直指豪华座椅在影院界处于核心地位。“事实上目前市场上大多数影院的现实是，要么立刻去做，保持你的市场份额，要么让你的竞争对手先做，抢走你的市场份额，”他说。紧跟竞争的压力尤其影响较小的影院商，他们仍在回收与数字转换相关的开销。本地影院商刚做了大笔投资以便在放映室跟上大型商家，为了保持竞争优势现在又面临升级座椅的挑战。Krian对这些影院以低首付加门票收入分成方案推广自身，提供融资低至首付99美元，每张票售分成50美分。“用不了多久，大部分影院将面临选择，”波因德克斯特继续道。“要么让这些座椅升级，或者降级到打折影院的状态。”
Implementing luxury seating comes with its share of challenges for exhibitors. Marixa Flores from Seating Concepts approximates that about 60 percent of a typical auditorium space is reduced with the installation of full recliners. Richard Murphy, president of Stadium Savers, has ample experience dealing with both new constructions and retrofits for exhibitors who want to install enhanced seating alternatives. Murphy gets to the point when advising exhibitors on their options. “Luxury recliners require more horizontal space than the current ‘standard’ recliners,” he says. “This added space requirement will widen the established floor/platform dimension. As a result, the concrete floor/platform will need to be adjusted with additional concrete. Two important issue come to light: First, will the existing structure allow the introduction of the additional weight? And two, the widening floor/platform will be expanded, preferably with lighter-weight material. Lightweight foam is a good material for establishing the floor/platform configuration with less use of heavy concrete.”
实施豪华座椅也会给影院商带来挑战。座椅概念的玛利亚·弗洛雷斯估算，典型影厅空间装满可调式座椅大约会减少60%。Stadium Savers总裁理查德·墨菲跟要安装增强型座椅替代品的影院（无论是新建还是改造）打交道有丰富经验。当建议影院商的选择时，墨菲直入主题。“豪华可调式座椅比现今‘标准’可调式座椅要求更多横向空间，”他说。这些增加的空间要求将扩大已建成的地面/平台尺寸。其结果是，混凝土地面/平台需要用额外的混凝土做调整。两个重要问题暴露出来：首先，现有的构造允许增加额外重量吗？第二，加宽的地面/平台将最好采用重量更轻的材料。轻质泡沫是建筑地面/平台的好材料，可减少厚重的混凝土。
Murphy says he believes that middle-sized theaters work best in incorporating recliners, while clarifying that any size auditorium can be converted to incorporate enhanced seating. “Large theaters would be somewhat less desirable to widen because of the greater loss of seats. The mid-size theaters are the most desirable because of less total seat loss with a more intimate environment. The small theaters would be the least desirable, but can potentially be marketed as specialty screens.”
墨菲说他相信中等规模影院最适宜纳入可调式座椅，同时也说明任何规模的影厅均可改造纳入增强型座椅。“大型影院加宽座位有点不太理想，因为这将损失更多的坐席。中规模影院最可取，由于座位总数损失较小，环境更私人化。小型影院是最不理想的，但可能会被推销为特种银幕体验。”
Gaylord Stanton, VP of sales at First Class Seating and a proponent of the concept, cites costs, occupancy rates, and competition as prime factors to consider before making a decision. “Only upgrade to luxury seating if you are in a competitive market,” advises Stanton. “The loss of seats could have a negative effect, and the investment may be very difficult on an ROI basis.”
头等舱座位销售副总裁与概念倡导者盖洛德·斯坦顿引入成本、上座率与竞争力作为决策前考量的主要因素。“如果你在一个竞争激烈的市场里，只有升级为豪华座椅，”斯坦顿建议。“座位减少可能带来负面影响，以投资回报率为基础投资可能会非常困难。”
For Stanton, luxury seating has gained popularity in U.S. auditoriums because of an ironic cyclical dynamic between the home media and theatrical markets. “For years now the home-theater market has been trying to bring the movie theater experience into the home,” he says. “Now, exhibitors are bringing the comfort of home to the theaters.” But the seating conversation doesn’t end with rocker backs and recliners, however, as immersive and interactive seating continues expanding its presence in the United States. These options look to bring an entirely different dimension to the theatrical experience.
对于斯坦顿而言，豪华座椅在美国影院得以普及，原因在于家庭媒体与影院市场间令人啼笑皆非的周期性变化。“多年来家庭影院市场一直试图把电影院体验带入家庭，”他说。“如今，影院商正将家庭舒适感带入影院。” 然而，伴随沉浸式与互动式座椅在美国持续扩展其存在感,座椅的谈论不会止于摇椅靠背和可调式座椅，。这些选择看上去会带来一维完全不同层面的影院体验。