TENDING THE GROVE; Sun Theatre Changes Name, Courts Businesses, Parties
By JENNIFER BELLANTONIO
The Sun Theatre in Anaheim has undergone another rebirth.
Owner SMG, a joint venture of Hyatt Corp. and Aramark Corp., has changed the venue’s name to The Grove of Anaheim and says it is looking to land more corporate meetings and private parties.
“We want to better position ourselves within the community and be known not only as a performing arts center but as a meetings room facility,” said Kelly Bredell, a marketing consultant for Philadelphia-based SMG.
A few factors lead to the switch, according to SMG.
The company bought the theater last year from Ogden Corp. and the deal came with restrictions on the use of the Sun name, according to general manager Stephen Lazar.
Plus, after some market research, SMG said it found that most people still didn’t know the theater existed, unless they were from the immediate area, Lazar said.
“We felt by renaming it The Grove of Anaheim it gave people a clear picture of where we are located,” Lazar said.
But Grove officials dismiss the notion that the theater’s new cross-town rival, the House of Blues at Downtown Disney, spurred the changes.
“We don’t necessarily play the same acts,” Lazar said. “Our demographics are a little bit different.”
The Grove continues to book big-name artists such as Styx and Willie Nelson, he said, despite the House of Blues’ stronger name recognition and marketing muscle.
In 2002, the Grove so far is scheduled to hold 110 concerts and 40 to 50 special events and is working to land more, Lazar said. This year, it held 92 concerts, 45 promotional events and 90 catered events.
SMG hopes to boost event bookings, which include weddings and corporate meetings. As it is, the 27,000-square-foot venue is underused for those purposes, according to Lazar.
“We’ve been using the theater for special events since it started,” he said. “But 2002 will be a year where we take that to the next step.”
The Grove is offering “turn-key packaging” for event planners, tweaking room configurations and installing additional audiovisual gear for presentations, Lazar said. The Grove also redid its concerts and special event menus and plans to add three to four people to its special event staff.
“We need to be able to create the opportunity to touch and reach people in South Orange County as well as the Brea and Fullerton areas,” Lazar said.
The Grove’s advertising agency, Johnson Gray in Newport Beach, has run an ad in Billboard magazine and sent postcards to concert goers and meeting planners announcing the changes. The ad shop, which created the theater’s new outdoor signs, also plans to launch print ads in local publications.
On the corporate side, the Grove stands to feel heat from nearby hotels and some conference centers, which saw a number of cancellations or postponements after Sept. 11.
“We have a strong first quarter shaping up for 2002,” Lazar said. “I think things will come back around.”
The isn’t the first time the Grove has seen changes. The facility opened in 1998 as Tinseltown, a Hollywood-themed venue that hosted corporate shows and supper clubs. It bombed.
The Sun Theatre launched in 1999, holding concerts drawing from 500 to 600 people. When SMG bought the property last year, it increased the size of the concerts. Crowds now range from 900 to 1,200 people.
“It certainly helps with the overhead,” Lazar said of the larger shows. “But a lot of times to be able to bring that kind of a show to the theater we’re paying a higher premium for the talent.”
