February 5, 2007
Editor’s Query – How can main street retailers overcome parking limitations to remain competitive?
By Caroline Fossi, Retail business reporter, The Post and Courier
Merchants in the main shopping district of historic Charleston, S.C. say local customers are hesitant to make the trek to the downtown peninsula because they feel it’s so hard to find parking. The issue is complicated by the fact that there are several construction projects going on nearby that have blocked off streets and temporarily eliminated a large parking deck.
Discussion Questions: How important is parking to retailers (particularly those in downtown settings), given that most suburbs now have malls and strip shopping centers with free and ample parking? What are your thoughts on how long most shoppers are willing to drive around to find a parking spot, before losing patience, and how much they’re willing to pay for parking? How much do shoppers’ busy lifestyles (or demands for convenience) play into this? Any thoughts on how retailers can entice customers to make the trip downtown?
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Here in Chicago, one of the services available is a free trolley that runs the primary tourist sites. It isn’t really designed to promote downtown shopping, but it could be. I’m familiar with Charleston (lovely city with wonderful food!) and think this would work quite well for your downtown area. One thing to note is that this service is not popular with commercial transportation providers. The coach drivers might take offense.
Validating parking at garages is, to me, one of the only means of effectively managing this problem. Downtowns, by nature, rely on either in-place urban foot traffic or folks coming in from the suburbs and needing a place to park for multiple-destination shopping. Assuming that the former is not sufficient to stay in business, and knowing that suburban Americans are resistant to mass transport, centrally-located, validated parking has been effective for downtown merchants seeking suburban traffic.
I would advise the stores affected to use their web sites (or a joint site) to give driving and parking instructions, and to use the opportunity to drive traffic and sales.
A majority of retail consumers now research purchases online before buying offline, but multi-channel retailing is not just for the big boys (and big cities). Online retail sales are increasing as well for small shops and boutiques, and in smaller towns and cities.
In greater Milwaukee, for example (an area as representative as any mid-size metro region in America), online sales drove between 10% and 20% of small shop/boutique revenue last year, compared with less than 5% in 2005 (The Business Journal). An increasing number of boutique owners expect their online-influenced sales to increase to between 15% and 30% in 2007.
Multi-channel retailing is becoming a necessary and expected component of even small, local, neighborhood boutiques that want to grow sales and profitability.
So use the web site to drive traffic, and to tell them where to park!
I’m not an expert on this. However, I think some successful urban centers can serve as models. The Grove in L.A. is one. Perhaps the issue isn’t about parking or construction. Instead, maybe the issue is to see the downtown retail district as a single destination, rather than a loose accumulation of distinct enterprises.
Downtown centers can compete effectively against suburban malls by delivering an experience. Malls are antiseptic and impersonal. There’s not much to differentiate one from another. Downtown centers can deliver “shoppingtainment” in a much more diverse and compelling way. I know of many that already have very compelling events around Christmas and other holidays, with caroling and sleigh rides and so forth. Expanding the concept beyond events is, in my opinion, the way to go. Make going downtown something for everyone…experiential, not just about the logistics of parking.
If sufficient parking exists, it’s not the problem. The problem is the overall value proposition isn’t compelling. Convenience and access are elements to that value proposition. But they aren’t the most powerful determinants for a destination location.
While adequate and easily accessible parking is very important, there has to be more of a draw than that. Proper parking merely levels the field with the malls but doesn’t give one an incentive to shop there. I agree that the downtown stores need to band together to create a more unified and unique shopping experience. Construction can certainly cause some people to avoid an area but there really isn’t anything that one can do about it – it’s just the cost of progress.
Downtown Naperville, IL is a great example of a community that seems to have it figured out. Ample parking, trolleys, a river walk and a trendy, growing collection of stores that work. The crowds during the warmer months especially would warm the hearts of any retailer.
Parking is obviously important to retailers that rely on being a destination for customers. If I have no place to “warehouse” my vehicle as I poke into and out of stores, I will not be able to shop. My expectation as a shopper is also that I should not need to pay for parking. As such, the ability to get a parking ticket “validated” or “stamped” if I use public parking would be helpful.
The lifestyle issue is an interesting one in that people swore that videotapes would “kill” the movie theater business and now many pundits claim the internet will destroy the retail store business. What is more likely is that, while people can and will use Amazon.com or do their shopping at online sites, the need for the “education” provided by the retailer is still essential. People will pay for that human interaction, education, service, etc. that cannot be as easily received via a keyboard.
The emphasis on “being a merchant who knows and understands the consumer/shopper” is essential (and not to feed into the “self serve” world that so many retailers seem to be spiraling into currently as they compete with “big box” retailers).
In terms of ideas, the entertainment angle works well, the physical layout suggestions may work (if practical), and the education aspects can contribute – but by and large, the need is to change the business from being a store that carries “x” to becoming a destination for something more than just a product that can be acquired elsewhere. Easier said than done, but certainly not impossible.
I spent part of the last week of 2006 in Charleston. Yes, the commercial area of downtown has a parking problem, particularly during the day. After about 6 PM, it’s not as bad. It seems to me that most of the traffic is tourist-related, not the natives.
Perhaps some of the underutilized real estate elsewhere in town should be used for parking, and “transportation with style” should be used to move the tourists to and from downtown. Examples: real trolleys (not buses made to look “like” trolleys), antique buses (with modern engines), a Disney-style monorail, ferries, etc. Otherwise, people resent having to pay $5 or $10 to park downtown. Perhaps this project could be funded via a 100% parking tax for nonresidents’ cars parked within a mile of downtown. Note: I’m not running for office in Charleston, or anywhere else.
I too, like Ben Ball, am familiar with Charleston and have enjoyed its historic downtown on many occasions. I like the ideas others have mentioned – the concept of free shuttles or trolleys to downtown from the periphery of the city and the valet parking. More parking (free with retailer validation) would be the most obvious solution but downtown Charleston doesn’t have a lot of space – parking lots would have to be multilevel structures.
Charleston is also fortunate that it enjoys a lot of tourists – who compete with the locals for parking. What about an on-line presence for retailers to help alleviate this temporary parking problem? (Certainly the construction must be a strong reason not to go downtown.) Go to Charleston shopping dot com, click on specific retailer mini-site and shop. Retailers will deliver merchandise to shoppers within metro Charleston for free…..
In general, consumers today don’t like to go shopping. They spend fewer hours shopping and make fewer trips. Shopping malls are also finding it to be a problem to get more people into the malls for longer periods of time.
If there is sufficient parking, I agree that parking is not the problem. So the downtown district, as a district not as individual stores, should take stock: Do the stores offer what consumers in the area and/or tourists want? Do the people who do come downtown go to more than one store? Are there places for people to eat, sit, relax, enjoy themselves? Are there events to attract people on special occasions?
Different shopping areas that I am familiar with have instituted things like greenspace and fountains for kids to run through, have musicians playing, close the streets once a week in the evening in the summer (or winter depending upon the location) to have a special event (e.g., display old cars, have an art walk, have a play to toddlers to play with supervision, displays of kids’ artwork from local schools, etc.
Create a reason for people to come to the shopping district, then the stores have an opportunity to attract consumers to come in.
Obviously, parking is very important or the retailers would not be complaining. There is a good reason why many retailers left Main Street for the freeway. How long are shoppers willing to drive around and look for parking? About 2 seconds and it better be free. What some business districts have done is to reduce the amount of retail square footage and increase the amount of parking until there is an equilibrium. More upscale retailers have offered valet parking. However, even if it’s free, it isn’t because you are expected to tip.
It is true these consumers are not shopping in the downtown areas of cities. And even if it is historical, how many times can a resident view the sites and shops?
Parking is an excuse for consumers, but construction of any kind limits visits even more!
I believe it is the tourist the merchants need to communicate to, or the citizens who have friends and family visit them.
A fall and winter downtown fair may bring the tourist and visiting family members to the historic downtown of this lovely city. Or during the spring, a tie-in to a golf outing or antiques tour.
I am in the minority here: I would not mind paying a couple dollars for parking if the “experience” was good enough. Shopping downtown should be convenient in that there should be a wide variety of stores (preferably not all chains) in close enough proximity that I can park my car and walk around for a few hours. If that is the case, I’ll gladly go downtown and even pay a little bit to park.
Marketing the “experience” and providing other conveniences (green space, restaurants, food stands, benches) that make it worthwhile to come down for a few hours goes far beyond the “mall experience” even if people don’t realize it.
Make it a destination and people will come down there no matter how hard it is to park.
To paraphrase Yogi Berra: Nobody parks downtown anymore, there are no spaces left…
This is, of course, a problem that has been around for 90+ years now. (Anyone remember Chicago’s c. 1920 Loop Parking Ban?) Unfortunately, we only know what doesn’t work: shuttles don’t, nor does free parking….unless it can assure a space a few feet away from the destination (which is usually impossible, and means giving over large areas to parking…which largely defeats the point of a CBD).
Downtown retail can only work in areas which already have a large number of (potential) shoppers – office workers, tourists – at hand…..which is very few cities indeed.
Being a downtown merchant and member of a non-Chamber of Commerce downtown merchant group, I have heard endless complaints from consumers and merchants. Store-front parking is always an issue. I even hear complaints because our guests can’t use our back doors. They don’t seem to be concerned that they are affecting someone’s “experience” until it hits their wallet.
Selection of stores is our next largest cry. We are saturated with real estate agents! My response to that cry is that the taxpayers have to set the tone. As long as they don’t object to whom or how property owners lease the space, they can’t complain. The owners just want to rent their space to a reliable renter.
Corporately owned and large businesses will win out over Mom & Pop retailers because of the legal guarantee of payment and long lease agreements. It was a lot easier for me to expand my business in downtown after proving my business’ worth of 10 years.
As far as downtown merchants as a collective, it does help. We offer several events throughout the year to attract people. Unfortunately, it doesn’t raise the bottom line for most. It mostly raises the good will.
I agree 100% that keeping doors open later is going to allow competition with the malls. But, paying the overhead for employees and everything that goes with it is a huge argument. We were one of the few willing to take that plunge. A few others have followed. Web site collaboration is key. As stated by some other commentators, “teasing” the senses on-line is a sure fire way to get people in to the store.
Easy in and out works well. No one has time to wait. Having all the “paperwork” on the computer, pay and print, makes picking up merchandise easier for both parties. None of it works well all the time. We often survey our existing guests to see what they like and don’t like. The best defense is to tell your shoppers to go to a town meeting. Complaining to the merchants can only get so far.
The most successful downtown shopping places across the country create an experience. Charleston already has the bones, all they have to do is team up and create the experience. Starbucks is not so much about the coffee but the experience. You can go into their store, relax in a comfortable, clean, appealing, relaxing atmosphere and zone out of a busy day. And for that experience we’ll pay more, and be inconvenienced a little. Recently, I was at downtown Ashville, NC and they have done a marvelous job of blending the culturally artsy experience with history and fun shopping. They have an old Woolworth’s store converted into a mall of artist booths, attractively done, complete with a revival of the old soda fountain. A little town in Glendale, Kentucky has little to no parking but once a year, during Glendale Days, they draw over 40,000 people. Why? The experience. All the retailers have bought houses and restored them to create a delightful experience of yesteryear.
So, Charleston, don’t focus on your lack; focus on your pluses; add some creative parking like some of the ideas which have been suggested and create the experience.
Why is it that some consumers will not fret about walking three football fields across asphalt to reach the entrance of a big box, but not part three blocks or less from a worthwhile downtown location? I think the answer lies in making the inconvenience a convenience. Creative solutions–like many of the ideas presented in this discussion–could help solve the problem. My top three suggestions? 1) Work with other local main street merchants to “rent” space in a public parking lot nearby, then run a comfortable shuttle service; 2) Try valet parking. Although not entirely free to consumers because of tipping, it can differentiate an operation; and 3) Make the retail operation worth the trouble. The shopping experience has to be more than a “quick trip,” rather a destination worth the fuss of finding a parking spot.
Retailers providing a real reason for consumers to come to their stores don’t complain about the parking – the consumers don’t either. If its worth it, the inconvenience isn’t considered one.
I’ll take a purely technical perspective on this and say the “Downtown Shopping District” has to combine their offer with a very robust online presence. The basic advantage that the downtown area offers is convenience. Unfortunately, this very advantage is wiped out by congestion. So the question becomes, how do you avoid the congestion?
The simple answer is to move the “browsing” online and limit the need to actually go downtown for “fulfillment.” This means that the only reason to go into town is to either pickup the merchandise you have already selected or to receive the services of the barber, dog groomer, or whatever else you are headed into town to obtain. Payment could even be made online so that the stop at the retailer becomes merely a pick-up. For those retailers that offer a quickly changing or unique line of merchandise, there may even be online virtual tours of their offerings. For example an antique store may have cameras that present an in-store display online. Customers may even be allowed to chat with store personnel.
Now that you have reduced the actual time needed for someone to be present downtown, you can change all the parking spaces to twenty minute limits. Except for the locations that offer personal services, this should be sufficient time to pick up your packages or pet. I am not sure what to do about the service aspect, although again an online appointment system that supports those types of businesses may reduce the wait time.
The locals probably know that it’s a hassle now, but perhaps after the construction is completed–during what might be a low traffic period–the problem will be reduced and they will show up again.In the meantime, local merchants can develop better approaches to reducing hassles for those that work in the city, live in the city or who are in hotels.
These situations can also be improved: folks in hotels may be inclined to buy more if they don’t have to worry about airport issues…solve that problem. City workers may be inclined to shop if you design experiences that cater to lunchtime windows. Local residents may choose your shop if you increase personal service. Parking is a problem; but not serving the customers you already have is a lost opportunity.
Just a few thoughts. Why not, instead of having to remember to get your parking ticket validated, make it so that all stays under an hour in a parking garage are free? Have more stores open in the evening, like the malls. Most everyone works, and they get out of the habit of going “downtown” if “downtown” is open only from 9-5. Maybe offer discounts for shopping at “off hours.” Have a shuttle bus for store employees, and have them park a distance away. Free up more spaces for customers. Have the town be reasonable about parking tickets. Police just enforce the law; it’s up to the town to be reasonable in what it enacts. I knew of a movie theater about to go out of business because of a two-hour parking limit on all the meters that were put in around them. If the movie ran over two hours, you got a ticket. I swear the cops used to stake out the place when there were long movies.
Ben Bradshaw, minister for local environment here in the UK, recently pointed out that importing food produces some 3% of the food industry’s emissions while 13% are produced by consumers driving to supermarkets to shop. Presumably the figures are similar for all sorts of shopping. Town centres here became ghost like for a long time; now many of them are considered clones of one another as planning permission for out of town shopping centres was restricted. Those restrictions are now, allegedly, about to be relaxed and building on so-called greenfields not only permitted but positively encouraged.
Meanwhile, retailers in towns with park and ride facilities have also been complaining; there is a limit to how much customers can and will carry back to their cars when they have to take a bus to reach them. On top of that, many towns are either introducing congestion charges to keep cars out or banning them completely.
All of which makes me think that the only sensible answer for the future is shopping online and having orders delivered by specialist carriers who plan their journeys carefully (presumably not using satnav but that’s another discussion) in order not to waste time or fuel. For those who prefer to see what they’re getting before they buy it, new patterns of home delivery could also be the way forward if it doesn’t smack too much of returning to the past. I’m sure many of us remember our mothers going out to the store and then waiting for the bike to deliver what they’d bought. There were enough stores within walking distance to find everything they needed and they didn’t have to worry about parking close enough to load up before going home.
Shoppers decide to shop downtown for two reasons. Either they live there or they are looking for the downtown experience. City planners are delighted with the hoards of people moving downtown. Most downtown residents are professional people with nice incomes. Many baby boomers have moved downtown in response to their empty nest. Many of their children are living downtown as young couples and active singles. For these, parking is not an issue. They understand that cars are to be used as a last resort.
The other group is looking for the downtown experience either as tourists or as day visitors from the suburbs. Here, the planners have a challenge. It is useful to look at the parking-for-shoppers problem in a larger context. Planners mostly plan parking for peak events such as conventions, ball games, and festivals. Often these sites are not close to the desirable downtown shopping areas. Cities should offer these facilities to day visitors at competitive rates. They should also offer offer free, or low cost, fun transportation to the shopping areas. Some cities have trolleys or water taxis that do this job well. Shoppers respond by enjoying their downtown experience and by feeling welcomed. These strategies gets them in the mode for shopping.
Commercial parking areas are also a key part of the solution. Retailers should consider comping the parking fees for loyal customers. Other effective strategies are free valet parking for loyal customers.
Some urban shopping areas have effectively used entertainment to increase the value of the shopping experience compared to the typical mall environment. But, parking is a significant barrier today. Customers want ease of access and urban environments present two challenges: getting to the shopping area and then parking. While remote parking areas with mass transit to the shopping area itself help some, most customers don’t want to haul their packages long distances.
For urban areas to really compete effectively, they need local access solutions. Parking garages or immediate area parking solutions will remain almost a necessity if those shopping areas want to pull in residents from outside the immediate urban environment. Another possible approach is an overnight ship system so customers could use some form of mass transit, but get their packages the next day avoiding the need to haul packages while shopping.
Dear Retailers:
Provide me stores by the side of the road
Where parking’s easy and people saunter by.
Shopping all alone online is not my answer
Being without lively people is a human cancer.
So provide me easy entry and a free parking spot
And you can expect your business to get hot.
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Here in Chicago, one of the services available is a free trolley that runs the primary tourist sites. It isn’t really designed to promote downtown shopping, but it could be. I’m familiar with Charleston (lovely city with wonderful food!) and think this would work quite well for your downtown area. One thing to note is that this service is not popular with commercial transportation providers. The coach drivers might take offense.
Validating parking at garages is, to me, one of the only means of effectively managing this problem. Downtowns, by nature, rely on either in-place urban foot traffic or folks coming in from the suburbs and needing a place to park for multiple-destination shopping. Assuming that the former is not sufficient to stay in business, and knowing that suburban Americans are resistant to mass transport, centrally-located, validated parking has been effective for downtown merchants seeking suburban traffic.
I would advise the stores affected to use their web sites (or a joint site) to give driving and parking instructions, and to use the opportunity to drive traffic and sales.
A majority of retail consumers now research purchases online before buying offline, but multi-channel retailing is not just for the big boys (and big cities). Online retail sales are increasing as well for small shops and boutiques, and in smaller towns and cities.
In greater Milwaukee, for example (an area as representative as any mid-size metro region in America), online sales drove between 10% and 20% of small shop/boutique revenue last year, compared with less than 5% in 2005 (The Business Journal). An increasing number of boutique owners expect their online-influenced sales to increase to between 15% and 30% in 2007.
Multi-channel retailing is becoming a necessary and expected component of even small, local, neighborhood boutiques that want to grow sales and profitability.
So use the web site to drive traffic, and to tell them where to park!
I’m not an expert on this. However, I think some successful urban centers can serve as models. The Grove in L.A. is one. Perhaps the issue isn’t about parking or construction. Instead, maybe the issue is to see the downtown retail district as a single destination, rather than a loose accumulation of distinct enterprises.
Downtown centers can compete effectively against suburban malls by delivering an experience. Malls are antiseptic and impersonal. There’s not much to differentiate one from another. Downtown centers can deliver “shoppingtainment” in a much more diverse and compelling way. I know of many that already have very compelling events around Christmas and other holidays, with caroling and sleigh rides and so forth. Expanding the concept beyond events is, in my opinion, the way to go. Make going downtown something for everyone…experiential, not just about the logistics of parking.
If sufficient parking exists, it’s not the problem. The problem is the overall value proposition isn’t compelling. Convenience and access are elements to that value proposition. But they aren’t the most powerful determinants for a destination location.
While adequate and easily accessible parking is very important, there has to be more of a draw than that. Proper parking merely levels the field with the malls but doesn’t give one an incentive to shop there. I agree that the downtown stores need to band together to create a more unified and unique shopping experience. Construction can certainly cause some people to avoid an area but there really isn’t anything that one can do about it – it’s just the cost of progress.
Downtown Naperville, IL is a great example of a community that seems to have it figured out. Ample parking, trolleys, a river walk and a trendy, growing collection of stores that work. The crowds during the warmer months especially would warm the hearts of any retailer.
Parking is obviously important to retailers that rely on being a destination for customers. If I have no place to “warehouse” my vehicle as I poke into and out of stores, I will not be able to shop. My expectation as a shopper is also that I should not need to pay for parking. As such, the ability to get a parking ticket “validated” or “stamped” if I use public parking would be helpful.
The lifestyle issue is an interesting one in that people swore that videotapes would “kill” the movie theater business and now many pundits claim the internet will destroy the retail store business. What is more likely is that, while people can and will use Amazon.com or do their shopping at online sites, the need for the “education” provided by the retailer is still essential. People will pay for that human interaction, education, service, etc. that cannot be as easily received via a keyboard.
The emphasis on “being a merchant who knows and understands the consumer/shopper” is essential (and not to feed into the “self serve” world that so many retailers seem to be spiraling into currently as they compete with “big box” retailers).
In terms of ideas, the entertainment angle works well, the physical layout suggestions may work (if practical), and the education aspects can contribute – but by and large, the need is to change the business from being a store that carries “x” to becoming a destination for something more than just a product that can be acquired elsewhere. Easier said than done, but certainly not impossible.
I spent part of the last week of 2006 in Charleston. Yes, the commercial area of downtown has a parking problem, particularly during the day. After about 6 PM, it’s not as bad. It seems to me that most of the traffic is tourist-related, not the natives.
Perhaps some of the underutilized real estate elsewhere in town should be used for parking, and “transportation with style” should be used to move the tourists to and from downtown. Examples: real trolleys (not buses made to look “like” trolleys), antique buses (with modern engines), a Disney-style monorail, ferries, etc. Otherwise, people resent having to pay $5 or $10 to park downtown. Perhaps this project could be funded via a 100% parking tax for nonresidents’ cars parked within a mile of downtown. Note: I’m not running for office in Charleston, or anywhere else.
I too, like Ben Ball, am familiar with Charleston and have enjoyed its historic downtown on many occasions. I like the ideas others have mentioned – the concept of free shuttles or trolleys to downtown from the periphery of the city and the valet parking. More parking (free with retailer validation) would be the most obvious solution but downtown Charleston doesn’t have a lot of space – parking lots would have to be multilevel structures.
Charleston is also fortunate that it enjoys a lot of tourists – who compete with the locals for parking. What about an on-line presence for retailers to help alleviate this temporary parking problem? (Certainly the construction must be a strong reason not to go downtown.) Go to Charleston shopping dot com, click on specific retailer mini-site and shop. Retailers will deliver merchandise to shoppers within metro Charleston for free…..
In general, consumers today don’t like to go shopping. They spend fewer hours shopping and make fewer trips. Shopping malls are also finding it to be a problem to get more people into the malls for longer periods of time.
If there is sufficient parking, I agree that parking is not the problem. So the downtown district, as a district not as individual stores, should take stock: Do the stores offer what consumers in the area and/or tourists want? Do the people who do come downtown go to more than one store? Are there places for people to eat, sit, relax, enjoy themselves? Are there events to attract people on special occasions?
Different shopping areas that I am familiar with have instituted things like greenspace and fountains for kids to run through, have musicians playing, close the streets once a week in the evening in the summer (or winter depending upon the location) to have a special event (e.g., display old cars, have an art walk, have a play to toddlers to play with supervision, displays of kids’ artwork from local schools, etc.
Create a reason for people to come to the shopping district, then the stores have an opportunity to attract consumers to come in.
Obviously, parking is very important or the retailers would not be complaining. There is a good reason why many retailers left Main Street for the freeway. How long are shoppers willing to drive around and look for parking? About 2 seconds and it better be free. What some business districts have done is to reduce the amount of retail square footage and increase the amount of parking until there is an equilibrium. More upscale retailers have offered valet parking. However, even if it’s free, it isn’t because you are expected to tip.
It is true these consumers are not shopping in the downtown areas of cities. And even if it is historical, how many times can a resident view the sites and shops?
Parking is an excuse for consumers, but construction of any kind limits visits even more!
I believe it is the tourist the merchants need to communicate to, or the citizens who have friends and family visit them.
A fall and winter downtown fair may bring the tourist and visiting family members to the historic downtown of this lovely city. Or during the spring, a tie-in to a golf outing or antiques tour.
I am in the minority here: I would not mind paying a couple dollars for parking if the “experience” was good enough. Shopping downtown should be convenient in that there should be a wide variety of stores (preferably not all chains) in close enough proximity that I can park my car and walk around for a few hours. If that is the case, I’ll gladly go downtown and even pay a little bit to park.
Marketing the “experience” and providing other conveniences (green space, restaurants, food stands, benches) that make it worthwhile to come down for a few hours goes far beyond the “mall experience” even if people don’t realize it.
Make it a destination and people will come down there no matter how hard it is to park.
To paraphrase Yogi Berra: Nobody parks downtown anymore, there are no spaces left…
This is, of course, a problem that has been around for 90+ years now. (Anyone remember Chicago’s c. 1920 Loop Parking Ban?) Unfortunately, we only know what doesn’t work: shuttles don’t, nor does free parking….unless it can assure a space a few feet away from the destination (which is usually impossible, and means giving over large areas to parking…which largely defeats the point of a CBD).
Downtown retail can only work in areas which already have a large number of (potential) shoppers – office workers, tourists – at hand…..which is very few cities indeed.
Being a downtown merchant and member of a non-Chamber of Commerce downtown merchant group, I have heard endless complaints from consumers and merchants. Store-front parking is always an issue. I even hear complaints because our guests can’t use our back doors. They don’t seem to be concerned that they are affecting someone’s “experience” until it hits their wallet.
Selection of stores is our next largest cry. We are saturated with real estate agents! My response to that cry is that the taxpayers have to set the tone. As long as they don’t object to whom or how property owners lease the space, they can’t complain. The owners just want to rent their space to a reliable renter.
Corporately owned and large businesses will win out over Mom & Pop retailers because of the legal guarantee of payment and long lease agreements. It was a lot easier for me to expand my business in downtown after proving my business’ worth of 10 years.
As far as downtown merchants as a collective, it does help. We offer several events throughout the year to attract people. Unfortunately, it doesn’t raise the bottom line for most. It mostly raises the good will.
I agree 100% that keeping doors open later is going to allow competition with the malls. But, paying the overhead for employees and everything that goes with it is a huge argument. We were one of the few willing to take that plunge. A few others have followed. Web site collaboration is key. As stated by some other commentators, “teasing” the senses on-line is a sure fire way to get people in to the store.
Easy in and out works well. No one has time to wait. Having all the “paperwork” on the computer, pay and print, makes picking up merchandise easier for both parties. None of it works well all the time. We often survey our existing guests to see what they like and don’t like. The best defense is to tell your shoppers to go to a town meeting. Complaining to the merchants can only get so far.
The most successful downtown shopping places across the country create an experience. Charleston already has the bones, all they have to do is team up and create the experience. Starbucks is not so much about the coffee but the experience. You can go into their store, relax in a comfortable, clean, appealing, relaxing atmosphere and zone out of a busy day. And for that experience we’ll pay more, and be inconvenienced a little. Recently, I was at downtown Ashville, NC and they have done a marvelous job of blending the culturally artsy experience with history and fun shopping. They have an old Woolworth’s store converted into a mall of artist booths, attractively done, complete with a revival of the old soda fountain. A little town in Glendale, Kentucky has little to no parking but once a year, during Glendale Days, they draw over 40,000 people. Why? The experience. All the retailers have bought houses and restored them to create a delightful experience of yesteryear.
So, Charleston, don’t focus on your lack; focus on your pluses; add some creative parking like some of the ideas which have been suggested and create the experience.
Why is it that some consumers will not fret about walking three football fields across asphalt to reach the entrance of a big box, but not part three blocks or less from a worthwhile downtown location? I think the answer lies in making the inconvenience a convenience. Creative solutions–like many of the ideas presented in this discussion–could help solve the problem. My top three suggestions? 1) Work with other local main street merchants to “rent” space in a public parking lot nearby, then run a comfortable shuttle service; 2) Try valet parking. Although not entirely free to consumers because of tipping, it can differentiate an operation; and 3) Make the retail operation worth the trouble. The shopping experience has to be more than a “quick trip,” rather a destination worth the fuss of finding a parking spot.
Retailers providing a real reason for consumers to come to their stores don’t complain about the parking – the consumers don’t either. If its worth it, the inconvenience isn’t considered one.
I’ll take a purely technical perspective on this and say the “Downtown Shopping District” has to combine their offer with a very robust online presence. The basic advantage that the downtown area offers is convenience. Unfortunately, this very advantage is wiped out by congestion. So the question becomes, how do you avoid the congestion?
The simple answer is to move the “browsing” online and limit the need to actually go downtown for “fulfillment.” This means that the only reason to go into town is to either pickup the merchandise you have already selected or to receive the services of the barber, dog groomer, or whatever else you are headed into town to obtain. Payment could even be made online so that the stop at the retailer becomes merely a pick-up. For those retailers that offer a quickly changing or unique line of merchandise, there may even be online virtual tours of their offerings. For example an antique store may have cameras that present an in-store display online. Customers may even be allowed to chat with store personnel.
Now that you have reduced the actual time needed for someone to be present downtown, you can change all the parking spaces to twenty minute limits. Except for the locations that offer personal services, this should be sufficient time to pick up your packages or pet. I am not sure what to do about the service aspect, although again an online appointment system that supports those types of businesses may reduce the wait time.
The locals probably know that it’s a hassle now, but perhaps after the construction is completed–during what might be a low traffic period–the problem will be reduced and they will show up again.In the meantime, local merchants can develop better approaches to reducing hassles for those that work in the city, live in the city or who are in hotels.
These situations can also be improved: folks in hotels may be inclined to buy more if they don’t have to worry about airport issues…solve that problem. City workers may be inclined to shop if you design experiences that cater to lunchtime windows. Local residents may choose your shop if you increase personal service. Parking is a problem; but not serving the customers you already have is a lost opportunity.
Just a few thoughts. Why not, instead of having to remember to get your parking ticket validated, make it so that all stays under an hour in a parking garage are free? Have more stores open in the evening, like the malls. Most everyone works, and they get out of the habit of going “downtown” if “downtown” is open only from 9-5. Maybe offer discounts for shopping at “off hours.” Have a shuttle bus for store employees, and have them park a distance away. Free up more spaces for customers. Have the town be reasonable about parking tickets. Police just enforce the law; it’s up to the town to be reasonable in what it enacts. I knew of a movie theater about to go out of business because of a two-hour parking limit on all the meters that were put in around them. If the movie ran over two hours, you got a ticket. I swear the cops used to stake out the place when there were long movies.
Ben Bradshaw, minister for local environment here in the UK, recently pointed out that importing food produces some 3% of the food industry’s emissions while 13% are produced by consumers driving to supermarkets to shop. Presumably the figures are similar for all sorts of shopping. Town centres here became ghost like for a long time; now many of them are considered clones of one another as planning permission for out of town shopping centres was restricted. Those restrictions are now, allegedly, about to be relaxed and building on so-called greenfields not only permitted but positively encouraged.
Meanwhile, retailers in towns with park and ride facilities have also been complaining; there is a limit to how much customers can and will carry back to their cars when they have to take a bus to reach them. On top of that, many towns are either introducing congestion charges to keep cars out or banning them completely.
All of which makes me think that the only sensible answer for the future is shopping online and having orders delivered by specialist carriers who plan their journeys carefully (presumably not using satnav but that’s another discussion) in order not to waste time or fuel. For those who prefer to see what they’re getting before they buy it, new patterns of home delivery could also be the way forward if it doesn’t smack too much of returning to the past. I’m sure many of us remember our mothers going out to the store and then waiting for the bike to deliver what they’d bought. There were enough stores within walking distance to find everything they needed and they didn’t have to worry about parking close enough to load up before going home.
Shoppers decide to shop downtown for two reasons. Either they live there or they are looking for the downtown experience. City planners are delighted with the hoards of people moving downtown. Most downtown residents are professional people with nice incomes. Many baby boomers have moved downtown in response to their empty nest. Many of their children are living downtown as young couples and active singles. For these, parking is not an issue. They understand that cars are to be used as a last resort.
The other group is looking for the downtown experience either as tourists or as day visitors from the suburbs. Here, the planners have a challenge. It is useful to look at the parking-for-shoppers problem in a larger context. Planners mostly plan parking for peak events such as conventions, ball games, and festivals. Often these sites are not close to the desirable downtown shopping areas. Cities should offer these facilities to day visitors at competitive rates. They should also offer offer free, or low cost, fun transportation to the shopping areas. Some cities have trolleys or water taxis that do this job well. Shoppers respond by enjoying their downtown experience and by feeling welcomed. These strategies gets them in the mode for shopping.
Commercial parking areas are also a key part of the solution. Retailers should consider comping the parking fees for loyal customers. Other effective strategies are free valet parking for loyal customers.
Some urban shopping areas have effectively used entertainment to increase the value of the shopping experience compared to the typical mall environment. But, parking is a significant barrier today. Customers want ease of access and urban environments present two challenges: getting to the shopping area and then parking. While remote parking areas with mass transit to the shopping area itself help some, most customers don’t want to haul their packages long distances.
For urban areas to really compete effectively, they need local access solutions. Parking garages or immediate area parking solutions will remain almost a necessity if those shopping areas want to pull in residents from outside the immediate urban environment. Another possible approach is an overnight ship system so customers could use some form of mass transit, but get their packages the next day avoiding the need to haul packages while shopping.
Dear Retailers:
Provide me stores by the side of the road
Where parking’s easy and people saunter by.
Shopping all alone online is not my answer
Being without lively people is a human cancer.
So provide me easy entry and a free parking spot
And you can expect your business to get hot.