Who owns hollywood wax museum

We are an attraction. Down the road at the Hollywood Wax Museum, Tej Sundher, a partner at Kuvera Partners, the Los Angeles company that owns the attraction, acknowledges that his business may take a hit once Madame Tussauds opens.

But he believes both can succeed in the long run. The opening of Madame Tussauds comes as the global economic meltdown puts a damper on tourist spending in Hollywood. If the Hollywood Wax Museum and Madame Tussauds are competitors, then the new kid in town already appears to have quite a few advantages.

Most of the celebrities represented in the new attraction -- including Elton John, Beyonce Knowles and Will Smith -- posed for their wax doubles. The attraction is owned by Merlin Entertainment Group Ltd. At Madame Tussauds, visitors are encouraged to interact with the figures. Meanwhile, some of the figures at Hollywood Wax Museum are more than 40 years old -- and showing their age.

The wax museum is also expanding its business to include a booth where tourists can get their photo taken on a replica of a star from the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But Sundher said his company was not making the improvements to compete with Madame Tussauds.

The Hollywood Wax Museum does have an advantage that may prove crucial in these tough economic times: its lower admission price. Nearly half of the tourists shopping for a Hollywood bus tour ask for a steep discount, she said.

People will go for anything free or cheap. When plans for Madame Tussauds Hollywood were announced several years ago, Leron Gubler, president and chief executive of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said he was worried about the future of the Hollywood Wax Museum.

The museum has been renovated to let guests pose for photos next to the figures, and he plans to add 20 new figures by November. Thomas of Madame Tussauds said figures there, created by a team of professionals in London, are clearly superior. But he said surveys have shown that attraction is losing customers who assume the two museums are either the same or very similar.

Online reviews of the two attractions seem to favor Madame Tussauds. On the online consumer rating site Yelp. Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are not tax deductible, but are predominately used to help meet the local financial requirements needed to receive national matching-grant funds.

But tough times call for tough tactics in the war of the Hollywood wax museums. The message: Our Angie is hot. Theirs is not. The Spokesman-Review Newspaper Local journalism is essential. Sign up.