My Biz: Collins Road Theatres is always looking for a new angle

Bruce Taylor's formula for success in the movie business has three parts to it — do it cheaper, do it better, and toss in real butter while you're at it.

'If you are going to go into business for yourself,' he advised, 'be ready to go completely into it.'

After losing his computer systems engineering position, Taylor invested his life savings into reviving what is now Collins Road Theatres, a mostly second-run movie house, in December 2003.

'Since opening the theater, I haven't had a vacation except for one stretch where I took five straight days off for a trip, and that included travel time,' he said.

'We are the No. 1 most attended theatre per screen in the entire state of Iowa,' Taylor said.

'Our movie auditoriums are filled virtually all of the time, with some weeknights tending to be a little bit slower, but day in and day out on the average, we have more people in front of our five screens than the other larger houses in the area.'

Over the past 12 years, all of the seating in all five auditoriums has been replaced and the projectors upgraded.

As for the sound, Taylor notes, 'It is eight-channel sound, which is the top of the line.'

Taylor runs the theater with the help of 28 employees, most of them teenagers and offers the public reasonably priced concessions that include Orville Redenbacher® popcorn that customers can top with real butter from a self-serve station. And fresh brewed coffee.

'We do everything the very top of the line that we can,' he added.

The theater also can show movies in 3-D, and holds events throughout the year, such as viewings for corporate customers, an annual Oscars party in February, the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival in April and, in recent years, the Royal Shakespeare Company offerings.

Their summer kid shows series is the largest of its kind in the country; kids get in free and the adults pay $1.00 for their ticket. 'One grown-up can bring all the kids they want,' Taylor noted. And its summer children's series charges adults $1 each.

'We do five days a week, Monday through Friday at 10 o'clock in the morning, and we do it from the time school lets out until it starts up again.'

Last year some 32,000 attendees came through the doors for this series, he said.

Different sponsors help with this program, but Taylor also reduces the cost on kids' trays concessions for these summer movies.

'A kid's tray includes popcorn, a 12-ounce drink and a bag of M & M's,' he explained. 'The kids can carry it themselves and we put a little sticker on the tray with a number and hold a drawing for prizes afterward.'

Bruce Taylor continues to look for ways to augment his customer base.

'I knew what I was getting into when I made the decision to open this theater,' he said. 'And if I could back up by 12 years, I'd make this decision all over again.'

Know a company in business for more than a year that would be ideal for 'My Biz'? Contact Chelsea Keenan at chelsea.keenan@thegazette.com