The blurry sign that you see in this photo reminds clients of this shopping centre to pay for their parking before exiting to the boom-gates. I still remain unconvinced that shopping centres aren't ripping us off by forcing us to pay for parking. Certain centres provide free open-air parking and paid undercover parking, leaving customers to decide whether or not they are prepared to pay for some shade from the African sun. This particular centre has no free parking.
I find paying to spend money at a shopping centre much like being charged to walk into a restaurant and look at the menu. I guess the shopping centre wins though - I still shop there regardless.
gentse koppen
What else can you do, one has got to eat
Duncan Drennan
Getting people to pay for parking is actually about customer turnover rather than making a profit for the parking. To make sure the shops get the maximum customer exposure they encourage people to leave by applying a parking fee.
There was an interesting article a while back in the Tygerberger newspaper about parking attendants in Cape Town city centre and how that is there to ensure that the parking spaces aren’t occupied all day resulting in fewer customers for the shops. It actually makes a lots of sense – imagine trying to find a parking in the city centre if all the parking was free and people could park as long as they wanted to. This particular shopping centre might only get that busy over weekends, but I guess it is the same principal.
Paul
Post authorIt’s a fair point that you make Duncan. I’d be more ticked off if there were no parking at the centre and I had to drive around for ages looking for parking.
There are other larger malls which have paid and free parking. Is this just because of their size and number of bays? On the other hand there are large malls that don’t have any free parking… I wonder what the rational behind these two approaches is. Floorspace vs. parking bays?
Viviane Sevarolli
In Brazil we’ve being facing these for ages now … especially in big cities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where the real state is really something … With that same sign “Have you paid your parking before leaving??”. In some malls we have machines that process our payment instead of attendees. Over efficiency and productivity !!! Now I am living in Seattle/USA and fortunately because I live 15 min away from downtown I don’t have to pay those fees, but if I go to PacificPlace mall in the heart of Seattle, it’ll be something around US$10 + your shops and dining …
Glad to see Cape Town pics, would love to visit it one day ;-)
Paul
Post author@Viviane : 10$?? That’s crazy! Wow…. parking here is about 5 ZAR for 2 hours. Okay, one can’t compare currencies like that, but wow… 10USD!
Yes, you must come visit Cape Town some day! :)