It appears that the Jersey Mike’s in downtown Ventura has shut its doors for good. Gone way too soon… it barely seemed to be up and running and then it’s gone. I’m starting to wonder if the parking meters may have had something to do with it, but I’m conflicted. I can see both sides:
“Parking meters are evil” side
- People used to be able to park in front to grab a sandwich to go. If they have to go to a free lot and walk they might be less likely to do so.
“Parking meters had nothing to do with it” side
- Subway seems to be doing just fine with the same meters out front
- Meters ensure that you CAN park in front of Jersey Mike’s because before the meters the spaces were all taken at noon. Now for a quarter you can park in front and grab a sandwich to go.
Which side do you lean towards? Does anyone know the real reason why Jersey Mike’s closed? In all likelihood it had nothing to do with the meters, but it isn’t nearly as fun to blame poor management or raised rents. =)
Jersey Mike’s is good but criminally overpriced. The parking meters are irritating though, I just stick to the free parking…not that I mind paying, but I hate overpaying and I’m afraid of underpaying.
The real reason this Jersey Mike’s closed was due to the landlord of the property not negotiating with the owner about lease terms. The rent was already extremely high and they wanted to increase it even more. In this kind of economy sometimes everyone takes a hit and the landlord should have realized that.
Anecdotally, the pay spaces are filled just about as much as they were before there was a fee (ok, maybe slighly less – but they’re still materially filled up).
Free spots outnumber pay spots 3 to 1, but they’re concentrated in specific areas, forcing people to walk. Walking encourages window shopping, window shopping encourages patronage.
But not every establishment benefits from that kind of arrangement. Perhaps that was the case here.