[malza]

> Look at movie theaters.

I don't think it was like that in the beginning. Running a cinema (movie theater) was a normal business until Hollywood milked it to the extreme. They created their own chains of multiplexes in many countries to push their idea of how the business should work.

These days modern cinemas are built like tourist traps with customers having to either walk through/past chain restaurants or having to find some weird side door to enter directly. It's quite a difference to even the 80s or 90s when cinemas had impressive/glamorous lobbies.

[rexf]

> customers having to either walk through/past chain restaurants or having to find some weird side door to enter directly

Having lived in NYC & LA, I've not had to walk through some weird side door to enter movie theaters. Theaters are straightforward: a lobby for tickets, a station where a person checks your ticket, the concession stand (overpriced food & drinks), and the theater doors.

Oftentimes theaters are located in crowded shopping areas with dining options, but you don't get lost since the theater physically takes up so much space and has signage everywhere directing you to the prominent entrance.

[djrogers]

I've not once been to a movie theater like you describe. All of the ones around here are like you indicate disappeared in the 90s. Where are you located?

[malza]

UK. Modern cinemas are built with multiple restaurants often with an entrance inside the restaurant itself.

In extreme cases you have to walk from the entrance to the back of the complex (passing by maybe a dozen bars and restaurants), get to the end, hop on an escalator to the next floor and walk all the way back past more outlets. It's only then you reach the cinema.

[edanm]

Over here (Israel), cinemas are usually inside shopping malls. Sometimes the theaters are separate but have a "shopping center"around them.

Personally, I find it very convenient - you can eat before/after the movie, and sometimes do a bit of light shopping. I like having more options. I certainly wouldn't consider it a bad thing, and I feel perfectly free to not shop if I don't need to.