To draw customers, ditch parking charges

ON SUNDAY I had occasion to visit a bank at The Glen shopping centre in the south of Joburg.

All of the banks are located on the top floor, and if you approach from the East you will need to travel up a ramp to enter the parking area, which is controlled by booms and metal “teeth” coming up out of the ground.

Not until you are nearing the top of the ramp do you discover that the delay in entering the parking area is because one of the two entrances is protected by cones – presumably because there is a problem with the boom or teeth!

Never would the shopping complex owners think of assisting the shoppers by manually opening the barriers and allowing free flow into the parking area.

The Glen boasts 1 000 parking spaces which are charged at a minimum of R7 after the first 15 minutes, up to two hours.

The Glen has been open at least 16 years and the parking alone has raked in a minimum of R40 880 000, presuming each parking bay is only used once a day! Even a visit to the bank cannot be completed in 15 minutes.

One presumes that the owners of The Glen want shoppers to frequent their shopping centre to provide customers to the shops, which pay enormous rents to the complex owners.

One way to attract more customers would be to abandon the parking charges and make access and egress from the complex far more user-friendly.

Ahhh, the joys of day dreaming!

Make access and egress far more user-friendly

Oakdene