Awareness/Business owner

I’m a business owner in this community, and enforcing parking has somehow become one of the most misunderstood parts of running a local business. When management steps outside to let someone know they can’t park in a customer-only space, it’s often met with frustration—and too often, retaliation. Customers who are told this frequently respond not by understanding the situation, but by leaving negative reviews, even when they never came inside or experienced our service.

Here’s the part people don’t see: many individuals park, walk off, and never enter the shopping center at all. They treat private parking as a free-for-all simply because it exists in the city. While that happens, real customers circle the lot, can’t find a space, and leave. That lost customer is lost revenue, and it adds up quickly.

One parking space can easily represent hundreds of dollars during a busy period. That money goes toward rent, utilities, taxes, insurance, and employee wages. Small businesses and our neighboring shops rely on those few spaces to stay afloat. When non-customers ignore the rules, the cost isn’t abstract—it’s paid by local owners and workers.

Enforcing parking is not about being rude or unwelcoming. It’s about protecting access for paying customers and keeping our businesses viable in a city where expenses continue to rise. Negative reviews don’t change that reality. Awareness does. Respecting customer-only parking is a small action that makes a real difference for the businesses and people who serve this community every day.