Shoppers pour in despite parking squeeze

Susan McCormack

COSTA MESA -- Call it a defiance of physics. About 200,000 shoppers

flocked to South Coast Plaza on Friday and parked in 12,500 parking

spaces.

It seems only a feat of magic could squeeze an estimated 100,000 cars

into the center’s parking lots, but officials said eleven months of

planning kept traffic flowing smoothly on the busiest shopping day of the

year at the county’s busiest shopping center.

South Coast Plaza spokeswoman Debra Gunn Downing said it is her goal not

only to lure four times the number of usual shoppers to the mall on the

day after Thanksgiving, but also to make sure they have a pleasant

experience.

“We’re totally here for our customers,” she said.

Gunn Downing said security officers began directing traffic in the

parking lots at 6 a.m. Friday. Four valet stations employing about 110

parkers charged $5 a car. Every five minutes, four holiday shuttles

stopped at three different stations throughout the center to transport

shoppers. And to save precious parking space, 5,400 employees parked

off-site and were brought to work in red-colored staff buses.

“Behind the scenes, this is what it takes to accommodate everyone,” Gunn

Downing said. Congested parking “can really destroy a customer’s

experience.”

Shoppers seemed happy and at ease Friday, despite the crowds. The average

time to find a parking spot seemed to be about 30 minutes.

“We parked near Crate & Barrel, and we walked here,” said Colleen Tee,

from Cypress. She said it took about 15 minutes to walk across Bear

Street to the main shopping center because of the traffic.

Elisabeth Krant said she shops at South Coast Plaza every year during her

trip down from Central California to visit relatives. Krant said parking

was no problem because her father is handicapped.

“It took us about 30 minutes just to turn into the mall, though,” Krant

said.

Vicki Mulak, of Tustin, said she knows of several seldom-used parking

spaces that can be spotted as motorists exit the San Diego Freeway at

Bristol Street. The spaces are to the left of Robinsons May.

“We got really lucky,” Mulak said.

Gunn Downing offered some additional parking tips:

* Parking at the new Crate & Barrel wing is less crowded because there

are fewer stores there.

* Before noon is often the least busy time at the mall.

* The valet stations may fill up. For valet parkers, the two stations

near Bristol Street usually are not as busy as the others.

BOX

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Friday at South Coast Plaza by the numbers:

* 200,000 shoppers

* 5,400 employees

* 12,500 parking spaces

* Each parking space used eight to nine times

* 110 valet parkers