After a fierce backlash, the Deptford Mall has announced the end of its controversial premium parking program.
The policy charged drivers $10 a day to park at 40 specific spots close to the mall’s entrances; the mall lot has 5,000 spaces in all. The program was introduced about a week before Labor Day, when back-to-school shopping was nearing its end.
Shoppers paid for the parking spots by scanning a now inactive QR code. Parking for the handicapped, wounded veterans and expectant mothers was not part of the new policy.
It wasn’t long before people took to social media and refused to park in the designated spots to protest the program.
“Mall business, overall, is in serious decline,” said one resident, Sara Dennis. “And now, they want paying customers to have to pay $10 just so they can bring their business to the mall retailers? Where does this $10 go?
“Retailers are crying for business,” she added. “Doing something like this will make customers do their business online, rather than coming there and having to pay for parking. Just more greed that will serve to bring America down.”
“Deptford Mall greatly values the feedback of our shoppers, tenants and community, and after thoughtful consideration, we’ve decided to phase out the premier parking program at this time,” said a spokesperson from Macerich, the mall’s owner.
News of the program’s end was announced at a township council meeting on Sept. 8, but council members had already spoken with the mall’s manager after hearing complaints from residents.
“We went over and met him, made our case, told him we thought it was a big mistake, without going on a full conversation,” explained Mayor Paul Medany. “We asked him to call corporate. He called the corporate, the corporate listened to our case, and they decided to rescind it.”
Most people were glad to hear news of the policy reversal and lambasted the mall for implementing the idea in the first place.
“That was the most stupid thing I ever heard,” said Heather Ottinger, a shopper from Penns Grove.
