I have owned and operated Wild Rose Consignment Clothing store since 1992. I have seen many changes in the past 18 years of business. I have heard many opinions from our customers concerning our downtown, both positive and negative. Since 2 hour free parking has come into affect It has been such a relief not to hear negativity from anxious customers rushing to avoid a ticket or furious upon having just received one. Over the years I have apologized to many customers for our strict parking meter enforcement and tried to persuade them not to give up on shopping downtown. Often I would run outside to feed the meter just to keep customers in the store. Since the 2 hour complimentary parking has come into affect it has been a delight to hear the positive response of customers that have returned to shop in Guelph after boycotting downtown for a long period of time. The 2 hours free parking has given Guelph consumers a great incentive to
shop. I feel it has breathed new life into the core. It allows
spontaneous shopping instead of always considering whether they have enough change on hand. Customers stay longer, they are more relaxed and they shop. To continue with the gift of 2 hours free parking is just good business sense. I believe taking away 2 hours free parking would be a disaster for the health of the downtown Guelph. Not only would it deter customers from stopping, staying, relaxing and shopping, it would leave a negative feeling and have a negative impact . A great gift that has been given will be taken away. The end result will be detrimental to smaller businesses. Tough economical times, combined with decreased traffic flow due to on going construction, has been challenging enough. If the 2 hour free parking is removed it would be a very cruel blow to DAYTIME downtown businesses and their customers.BC