ADD RETAIL, THEATERS TOLD.

Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer

Movie theater owners need to treat their theater lobbies as if they were ``a one-hour vacation (spot),'' theater consultants said Wednesday at the owners' annual convention here, even if that means bringing in bookstores and coffeehouses that might compete with the movies.

``If you capture time, you capture market share. People spend money where they spend their time,'' consultant Kevin Roche said. ``Essentially, you're not in the industry of film distribution, but of capturing shares of time.''

Roche was one of several movie theater developers and planners who spoke at a panel discussion Wednesday on the future of movie theaters during the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas. The weeklong event attracts thousands of theater owners and officials, plus companies, including movie studio honchos and stars, trying to sell their products to theater owners.

Roche and other panelists stressed that the most formidable rival to theaters has become a multi-faceted destination like a Borders bookstore with an in-store Starbucks coffeehouse. ``The bookstore/restaurant has become a family destination for Friday evenings and they stay open until midnight,'' Roche said. ``Malls don't get it but Starbucks does.''

Richard Poulous, an architect with the firm that designed Universal City's CityWalk, said theater owners need to encapsulate their movie houses in centers that have a variety of entertainment options. ``What people need is a sense of discovery as they move,'' he said.

The message to theater owners did not meet universal approval, given that the idea of combining with other retailers is far more complicated than simply opening a stand-alone complex. But panelists agreed that the competition for their customers' attention makes it essential for operators to find new ways to attract patrons.

As an example of the latest attention-getter, an executive with Sony Corp.'s Loews Cineplex described the massive Metreon entertainment complex opening in San Francisco this June. The complex will include a 15-screen megaplex, an Imax theater, the world's first Microsoft store, a Discovery Channel store and three theme park-like attractions. ``We see people coming for six to eight hours of entertainment per visit,'' said Ted Shugrue, president of Loews Cineplex International.

``It's theaters that drive the business because they bring in the right type of people,'' Shugrue said.

Earl Voelker, an AMC Entertainment executive vice president, said his company hopes its Times Square project will ``become the icon of Hollywood on the East Coast.''

The complex, to be built on seven floors of the 90-year-old Empire Theater, will include a 450-room hotel, two rooftop terraces, restaurants, bars and retail stores, and 25 theaters.