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  • From: Duncan Murrell <dvmurrell AT nc.rr.com>
  • To: RTP-area local music and culture <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: Ditch the guns II
  • Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 13:40:17 -0400

On Sep 21, 2004, at 10:52 AM, Duncan Murrell wrote:

Amid all this speculation about what aspect of the business supports what, Jason helpfully points to an Inc. magazine article about the Starlite which lays it out in quick strokes. As far as I can tell, here's the business plan:


I was going to leave all this alone after that, but I got obsessed so I read everything I could find that had been published about the Starlite in the last ten years. From that, it seems clear that:

1. The drive-in part of the business was Mr. Groves' primary source of income;
2. The drive-in made a profit during most of the months of the year, when he could run it at a full schedule;
3. The gun shop/video store was established to supplement his business primarily during the winter months, when the drive-in schedule gets cut back to weekends only;
4. Recently, his drive-in business has been booming, exceeding his expectations and, on a few occasions this summer, almost filling the entire lot for first-run films;
5. A few years ago, he made enough money to buy five more adjacent acres;
6. Someday -- 5-10 years, "no guarantees," quoted in 2000 -- when the value of the land exceeds the value of the business, he may very well sell the whole place.

I think it's more accurate to say that the gun shop and the drive-in support each other and, on balance, the drive-in does more of the supporting than the gun shop. This might actually argue in favor of donating to the drive-in, even if you're a little skittish about the gun shop -- it's a tiny little shop that doesn't make a ton of money for the owner, and would probably not be successful if it had to carry as much of the weight of the business as the drive-in. (That is, it probably wouldn't "continue with or without support, sisyphus.") For most people who have gone to movies at the Starlite, none of this should make any difference when it comes to deciding whether to donate money or plywood -- you already know there's a gun shop, and you've accepted it. No problem.

It could make a difference, though, to people who haven't been to the Starlite, who would be inclined to support the rebuilding of a drive-in screen on principle -- historic preservation, preserving the character (or characters) of the community, pure charitable instinct, whatever -- but are averse to supporting the gun industry, also on principle. I see no reason why potential donors who don't already know it, shouldn't know that part of the business is a gun shop, and that contributions to rebuild the drive-in screen will help the whole business out on Club Boulevard.

Two articles of note:

1. The Triangle Business Journal -- details on the business, how he runs it, future plans, etc. From 2000:

http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2000/07/10/ smallb1.html?page=1

2. There's a profile of the business from the Herald-Sun, published July 10, 2004, by Anne Krishnan -- info on the current state of the drive-in business and its resurgence, nice comments from movie-goers, and so on. I'd post the link, but it takes you to a paid registration screen. It's too long to post here, but I can e-mail the text to you -- just ask.

d





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