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June 28, 1999

Third Runner-Up

Frank Steele
Fsteele on the Fool Boards

I would try to focus Planet Hollywood, not on celebrity, but on movies and movie stars.

First, I would establish three tiers of Planet Hollywood:

Tier One: Profitable, high-traffic stand-alone stores, chosen from the most successful current locations, perhaps a dozen worldwide. All the retailing would tie in to one of these locations. All the celebrity appearances would be in these locations. Essentially, the good parts of the business as it currently exists.

Tier Two: Chili's goes to the movies. These stores and Tier Three would result from a lucrative deal with a big theater chain, for instance AMC. We provide the food and the image, they provide the screens and the capital. Tier Two restaurants would share entrances with metropolitan AMC theatres, and be promoted as the place to go before and after the movies (you can purchase half-price movie tickets with your meal, buy birthday party packages with movie tickets, come to local premiere parties, see trailers for the movies playing next door, etc.) Retail items would bear the location of the nearest Tier One location (the Milwaukee restaurant would promote Planet Hollywood in Chicago).

Tier two would still have memorabilia, but no (or few) celebrity events. Instead, Tier Two locations would have teleconferencing capabilities, so you could participate in Tier One celebrity events through a remote uplink. "Come ask Liam Neeson about the making of Star Wars Episode 1. Live in Chicago, and live via satellite in Des Moines, St. Louis, Milwaukee, etc.")

Tier Three: Here in Atlanta, we have the Buckhead Backlot Cafe, a twist on the cinema and drafthouse concept with restaurant-style food. We at Planet Hollywood should own this space. With our new Planet Hollywood/AMC Cinemas, one or two screens in a given theater will be converted to tables rather than stadium seating. Here, you can get appetizers or a full meal (and drink) while you watch the latest Hollywood hits and special classics in re-release.

When popcorn costs $3.50, a $7.50 burger and fries looks like a bargain. Margins, margins, margins. These could scale down to cities in the 100,000-300,000 population range. No memorabilia, no celebrities, but, of course, you can buy a T-shirt (again promoting those glamorous Tier One locations), enjoy Planet Hollywood's famous food, and participate in premiere parties or special screenings of classics (A Night to Remember for Valentine's Day, month-long Oscar festival before the Academy Awards). We at Planet Hollywood love the movies, new and classic alike.

Planet Hollywood must have an online presence. If we can't afford to establish a leading site aimed at movie lovers, we should become title sponsors of one of the existing leaders, like the Internet Movie Database. Repoint www.planethollywood.com at www.imdb.com, add Planet Hollywood logos as appropriate, and add a "memorabilia" field in the database, so you can track famous movie memorabilia as it moves from Planet Hollywood to Planet Hollywood. Cross-promote celebrity appearances, nationwide premiere parties (at all Planet Hollywoods of all sizes), and classic screenings here.

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