Ohio retailer attracts new crowds with drive-in movie nights

Thayer Family Dealerships in Bowling Green, Ohio, typically hosts a handful of events per year. The activities — including a back-to-school event, a few classic car shows and a military appreciation event — are meant to bring existing customers back as well as draw in new community members and potential customers.

This year, Thayer was able to hold its Dog Days of Summer event safely outdoors, but the pandemic made its other activities impossible to host. That's when Thayer got creative with an idea that may stick even after COVID-19 has passed.

Thayer — which has six stores, one each for Toyota, Nissan, Chevrolet, Ford, Honda and a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership — held nearly a dozen drive-in movie nights complete with family-friendly films, snacks and themes ranging from Fall Game Day to Ladies Night to Halloween.

"We knew we couldn't do the same [events] as usual just with everything going on," Marketing Manager Marissa Garrett told Automotive News. "We were trying to think of something that we could still get people in the community out for something free and fun to do and yet keeping social distance."

Thayer bought its own screen and projector so that it didn't have to rent equipment each week and could consistently host the movie nights when convenient. The group set up speakers but also used FM transmitters so people could listen on a station in their vehicles.

"We wanted to do that in case it was cold or windy or if people just wanted to do the classic drive-in style, they could sit in their cars," Garrett said. "But we were surprised to see most people bring a lawn chair and sit outside their car. It made sense for the summertime, but people [were] still doing that even until the fall."

Thayer hosted many of its movie nights on Thursdays, typically the late night at the dealerships, but also did showings on a few Friday evenings. Thayer's final movie night was held on Halloween, a Saturday night.

The group had up to 65 vehicles for each movie night, Garrett said, and it alternated which store the movies were shown at each week. Dealership vehicles were moved to the perimeter of the lots to make room for people to park and view the screen.

At first, the group showed kid-friendly films such as Trolls and The Sandlot but later decided on different themes to draw new audiences. The group advertised the events on Facebook, Twitter and its local business accounts.

The Disney animated movie Moana was shown in September. That evening, the group collected donations for the Wood County Humane Society. When the group showed Grease later that month, it held a small cruise-in classic car show beforehand.

The group played Remember the Titans at the start of October to go along with a fall football theme.

Ladies Night, which featured the movie Bad Moms, included a socially distanced shopping component outside with local businesses. The event attracted at least 45 cars and generated donations for the local Cocoon Shelter, which provides services for survivors of domestic violence.

At its Ghostbusters movie night, Thayer hosted a special appearance by the Black Swamp Ghostbusters, a local nonprofit organization that helps with community events and fundraisers.

For Halloween, the group had trick-or-treat bags, hot chocolate and popcorn to accompany the movie Hocus Pocus.

Garrett estimates the group spent about $100 on snacks each week.

"It went really well throughout the summer, attracted a lot of cars, families," she said. "That's when we decided to continue it throughout the fall."

Because interest was so strong, the group may bring back the events once the weather is warmer and even post-pandemic.

"I think that is definitely an idea we'll have to revisit when the time comes," she said.

Garrett said some people attended almost every movie night, but the events — especially those with exciting themes — also drew new crowds.

"There were lots of new faces at Ladies Night," Garrett said. "And I think customers and potential customers as well."

The group, located less than 30 miles outside Toledo, sold 2,921 vehicles in 2019: 1,675 new and 1,246 used. Through October this year, Thayer has sold 2,055 vehicles — 1,091 new and 964 used. The group expects to hit last year's sales numbers by the end of the this year, even with all of its stores closed for a month and a half during the pandemic.

"We've had positive comments on Facebook and even phone calls of people just calling in and saying thank you," Garrett said. "I think it'll bring people in whenever they're ready to look for a car."