By COMFORT OGBONNA
Finding a convenient parking space at a shopping mall has traditionally been part of the experience of driving to the stores. For many shoppers, the biggest challenge was finding an open spot close to the entrance. Increasingly, however, convenience is becoming something customers have to pay for.
Shopping centers across the United States are setting aside parking spaces closest to entrances, restaurants and food courts and charging shoppers who want to use them. While most parking remains free, the growing practice of offering premium spaces for a fee is changing expectations about what consumers can expect when they visit a mall.
At Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, New Jersey, most of the parking remains free. But shoppers who want one of 119 spaces in a designated preferred parking area near the front entrance are now required to pay.
The pricing starts at $2.45 for the first hour, followed by $2 for each additional hour, with a daily maximum of $10.45. Customers can pay by scanning a QR code or sending a text message to the designated payment number.
The introduction of the paid spaces has generated frustration among some shoppers, particularly those who remember when parking at suburban malls was simply part of the free shopping experience.
The program is not limited to New Jersey. Similar preferred-parking arrangements have been introduced at several shopping centers around the country, including Mall St. Matthews in Louisville, Kentucky; Valley Plaza Mall in Bakersfield, California; Northridge Fashion Center in Los Angeles; and The Mall in Columbia, Maryland.
The properties are operated by GGP, which has introduced preferred parking at 23 of its more than 95 shopping centers nationwide.
The company says the program is designed primarily for shoppers who value convenience rather than as a replacement for free parking. At Willowbrook Mall, thousands of other parking spaces remain available without charge.
The company also says a portion of the money generated from preferred parking is donated to local charities.
For shoppers in a hurry, the appeal is straightforward. Someone making a short trip, meeting friends for a restaurant reservation or carrying children may be willing to spend a few dollars to avoid driving around a large parking lot looking for a space.
But for other customers, the issue is less about the amount of money and more about the principle.
The debate reflects a broader change in the way businesses charge consumers. Fees that were once unusual or included in the basic price of a product or service are increasingly being separated into individual charges. Consumers now encounter additional costs for baggage, services, convenience features and other extras that were once commonly included.
For some shoppers, paying to park at a mall feels like another example of that trend.
Social media reactions have ranged from disbelief to outright anger, with some shoppers questioning why they should have to pay before entering a business district where they are already expected to spend money.
Others have taken a more practical view, arguing that customers who do not want to pay can simply use the large number of free spaces farther from the entrances.
That choice, however, does not necessarily end the debate. Some shoppers argue that the creation of premium spaces makes free parking less convenient by reserving the most desirable areas for customers willing to pay.
The controversy has been particularly visible at malls where large numbers of premium spaces sit empty while shoppers park farther away.
At Cumberland Mall in Atlanta, for example, shoppers have expressed frustration after seeing vacant preferred spaces near the entrance while free spaces were available farther across the property.
At other shopping centers, customers have decided that the convenience is worth the cost.
For someone arriving hungry for a restaurant reservation or making a quick purchase, paying a few dollars to save time and avoid a long walk may seem reasonable. The decision ultimately depends on how much value a shopper places on convenience.
Paid parking itself is not new in the American retail industry. In dense urban areas, shopping centers have charged customers for parking for years, particularly where land is expensive and parking demand is high.
Kings Plaza Mall in Brooklyn, New York, for example, began charging for parking decades ago. When the mall introduced a 50-cent parking fee in the 1980s, the decision generated protests and controversy. Over time, however, the opposition faded, and paid parking became an established part of the shopping experience there.
Today, shoppers at the mall can pay as much as $11 per day.
Westfield Valley Fair Mall in Santa Clara, California, introduced parking charges in 2022, in part to prevent commuters, travelers and other people from occupying spaces intended for shoppers.
The strategy reflects a larger problem facing large shopping centers: parking is expensive to build, maintain and manage, even when customers are not directly charged for using it.
For decades, suburban malls treated expansive free parking lots as an important competitive advantage. The ability to drive directly to a shopping center, park without paying and walk into the stores was one of the features that helped malls compete with traditional downtown shopping districts.
That model became deeply associated with American suburban life.
Large parking lots became as familiar to the mall experience as department stores, food courts and movie theaters. During the height of mall culture in the 1980s and 1990s, parking was rarely considered a separate service for which customers might be charged.
But the economics of retail have changed.
Shopping malls have faced years of pressure from online shopping, changing consumer habits, store closures and the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, some malls have experienced renewed interest as younger consumers return to physical stores, restaurants and entertainment destinations.
That revival has created another challenge: managing parking demand.
Mall operators must maintain large parking areas regardless of whether every space is occupied. They also have to deal with people who use mall parking for purposes unrelated to shopping, including commuters and visitors attending nearby events.
Charging for selected spaces provides operators with another way to manage demand while generating additional revenue.
Retail analyst Neil Saunders has described the approach as a way for mall owners to generate incremental income while providing a convenience service for customers who want the best parking locations.
The strategy, however, remains divisive because it creates two different experiences for shoppers: those willing to pay for convenience and those who are not.
The distinction is especially sensitive when premium spaces are located immediately next to spaces reserved for people with disabilities, expectant mothers or other customers with special parking needs.
At Deptford Mall in New Jersey, a premium parking program became the subject of significant criticism. The mall had designated roughly 40 to 50 spaces near the main entrances as premier parking and charged customers for access.
The program eventually faced strong opposition from shoppers and local officials. The mall later agreed to phase out the paid parking arrangement.
The experience illustrates the risk mall operators face when customers believe a new fee crosses the line between offering an optional convenience and charging for something they believe should remain part of the basic shopping experience.
Other shopping centers have introduced parking fees for a different reason: preventing their facilities from being used as free parking for nearby destinations.
At the Fashion Outlets of Chicago in Rosemont, Illinois, parking charges were introduced after concerns that people were using the mall’s garage for access to nearby Chicago O’Hare International Airport or for events rather than shopping.
Under the policy, shoppers received a limited period of complimentary parking before higher charges applied. Customers who spent at least $100 at the mall could receive parking validation for a limited period.
Such policies highlight the complicated economics behind what may appear to be a simple question: Should mall parking be free?
Providing free parking is not actually free for the property owner. Large parking lots consume valuable land and require paving, lighting, security, maintenance, cleaning, snow removal in colder regions and other expenses.
Economic research on parking has also shown that free or heavily subsidized parking can represent a significant financial cost for institutions that provide it.
For mall owners, charging for premium spaces may therefore appear to be a relatively simple way to recover some of those costs without imposing a fee on every customer.
The approach also allows operators to preserve free parking while monetizing the spaces that customers value most.
For consumers, however, the change represents another example of convenience becoming a paid feature.
The question is whether shoppers will eventually accept premium mall parking in the same way they have accepted fees for other optional services.
Some likely will. A shopper in a hurry may consider $2 or $5 a reasonable price for saving time and walking a shorter distance.
Others may continue to see the practice as an unnecessary cash grab, particularly when thousands of free spaces are available elsewhere on the property.
For now, the traditional model has not disappeared. Most shopping malls, particularly those in suburban areas, continue to offer free parking.
But the growth of preferred parking suggests that mall operators are increasingly willing to test whether customers will pay for something that was once considered a basic part of the shopping experience.
The parking space closest to the door may still be available. The difference is that shoppers may now have to decide whether the extra few steps are worth saving a few dollars.
Original article
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