New Jersey is slowly opening back up for business -- and as it turns out, that's good news for Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (SIX 0.80%).
On Wednesday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced that "drive-thru and drive-in events" can reopen for business immediately -- so long as vehicles either keep their windows closed, or maintain at least six feet of distance from one another. (Other sorts of businesses will be allowed to reopen even more gradually in coming days.)
This is good news for Six Flags because, as luck would have it, the amusement park company happens to have just such a drive-thru experience handy in New Jersey -- its "Safari Adventure," through which customers can drive in their cars and view "more than 1,200 exotic animals" at Six Flags Great Adventure park.
Image source: Getty Images.
Thus, today, Six Flags announced it will be taking the governor up on his offer, reports CNBC, and begin working out "new safety procedures" that will allow the park to open "in the near future." Among these procedures, the company confirms, will be having visitors purchase their tickets online, rather than at the gate.
For the time being, Great Adventure's theme park and water park will remain closed, just as most of the company's other parks in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are closed. That means that for now at least, the company will only be collecting a sliver of the $1.5 billion in annual sales it ordinarily does. Still, a little is better than none at all.
Six Flags Entertainment stock closed up 3.7% in response to today's news.
