Northtown Employee Shuttle Eases Shopper Parking

Forget the economic gurus. If you want to know how the Christmas shopping is going, just ask Mirl Beck, a retired lumber worker who lives a half-block from NorthTown Mall.

Beck, 63, and his wife Betty have lived at 416 E. Wabash for 41 years.

They moved in before NorthTown opened as a small outdoor shopping center and then changed to an enclosed mall, eventually evolving into a regional giant owned by the Sabey Corp.

All that has meant more and more traffic along their street and tougher and tougher parking during the Christmas shopping season.

Some years the Becks have to park a block away. When it snows, the street becomes a narrow corridor, jammed with stuck shoppers and frazzled retail employees.

But so far this year, Beck is holding his breath and counting his blessings.

“We haven’t had any trouble at all,” he said. “Even the day after Thanksgiving, it’s usually the worst, (but) not this year. Maybe people aren’t shopping as much.”

Depressed retail sales may be part of the picture. A beefed-up effort by NorthTown to open up more parking spaces for shoppers may be the other part.

Sabey Corp. is spending more than $20,000 again this year to enforce customer-only parking at the mall during the 17 busiest shopping days of the season.

That means NorthTown employees park at a remote lot and take a 15-minute shuttle to the mall. The policy frees up more than 500 parking spaces for customers, who in turn don’t have to resort to parking in front of Beck’s home.

The day after Thanksgiving, NorthTown was awarding $5 gift certificates to employees who rode the shuttle, which leaves twice each hour from the old North Cedar drive-in theater north of Francis Avenue on Cedar Street.

“Since I graduated high school in 1960, I haven’t been on a school bus,” said Leona Brewer, 53, hot coffee in hand. “It’s kind of fun.”

Brewer was hired in the Sears lingerie department for the holiday season.

“I live in Chattaroy; they take me one-quarter of the way home,” added Susan Potter, 24, who works at a frame shop in the mall corridor.

Other workers said the shuttle was inconvenient, but they didn’t want to take a chance of parking at the mall. If they are caught, their employers are fined.

Such incentives as free coffee, cookies, movie passes and door prizes were being offered to encourage use of the shuttle. An added amenity is that mall security was on duty at the drive-in to help with stalled cars and frosted windows.

“We know it’s an inconvenience for employees, and we want to make it as easy as possible for them,” said mall spokeswoman Michelle Driano.

Occasionally even shoppers discover the bus and ride it.

Beck said he does appreciate the effort, though he still notices employees parking on his street - especially those who start early in the morning.

“I can’t blame them for parking close. Everybody tries to park as close as they can,” Beck said.

“Who wants to get off of work and then ride a shuttle?”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo