Wal-Mart Plans To Turn Parking Lots Into Drive-In Theaters

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, many businesses are scrambling to find new niches to fill. This is particularly true for restaurants and entertainment venues, who simply cannot have customers come in the way they could before this situation arose. One of the hardest-hit businesses out there, though, is movie theaters. While traditional theaters are seen as a huge risk during the pandemic, drive-in theaters are spiking in popularity. Given that there are relatively few drive-ins left across America, this resurgence has created opportunities for other businesses to fill.

And while they are not the only business planning to capitalize on this public desire for safe movie-going, Wal-Mart has plans to transform many of its stores into the local drive-in by August, according to Gizmodo.

A Perfect Storm of Opportunity

To be successful, drive-in movie theaters require several necessary components. Firstly, the company needs to be able to show films, and they need the projection and short-wave equipment to broadcast to the cars present. Those things are relatively easy to work out and, on the whole, the less expensive part of the endeavor. The big issue, and why so few businesses have been able to fill this demand from the public, is space. A drive-in theater requires a huge amount of space, which just so happens to be what massive Wal-Mart parking lots have in spades from one coast to another.

While it’s hard to say whether Wal-Mart or other businesses, will be able to compete with traditional drive-in theaters, the chances are good that customers will opt-in for the experience, staying safe while also getting out of the house.

Also, while it is easier for companies with the size, reach, and resources Wal-Mart commands, this change in business strategy to pivot to a changing situation shows an ingenuity that can be an example to other companies looking to forge a new path during Covid-19.