Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor® blog at Retaildoc.com

I was surfing the net and found a woman who owns a coffee shop being interviewed on TV. She felt the city didn’t do enough for business.  Why? She said she has to pay a parking meter every two hours for her personal vehicle. She said she’s supposed to move it every two hours but is trying to get away with not doing it.

‘It’s not a lot of fun. I’ve accrued a lot of parking tickets,’ she said.’It’s not a real business-friendly town. I was hoping they could at least issue a permit for us or something. I’d be happy to pay it.’”

What was most interesting to me was that she didn’t see that she was taking parking from her own customers.  Any mall has designated employee parking away from doors.  They know customers don’t like to have to walk.

Downtown businesses – before complaining about parking and that the “city should do something about it,” consider how you and your own employees might be making all of it worse.  When you signed your lease the parking was the same so don’t blame the city, blame selfish owners wanting special treatment when that is what they should be providing to their customers.

Tweet This Post