Mike Burton thought he’d finally hit the parking jackpot: A free spot in a packed Yorkdale lot, right in the middle of the prime pre-Christmas shopping season.That was until he noticed the woman striding quickly towards his Jeep, huffing and puffing.“Get the f— out of my spot. ... I’ve been waiting longer than you. What’s wrong with you?” the woman shouted, as Burton frantically tried to roll up his window. She put one hand on top of the window to stop Burton from rolling it up, and suddenly, with her other hand, reached in and slapped him across the face.After Burton threatened to call the police, the woman retreated, swearing, but not without a few swift kicks at Burton’s vehicle for good measure. That was in 2015. Burton hasn’t been back to the mall since.“I’m not going to put myself in that situation. Shopping last-minute is brutal,” said Burton.With parking spots increasingly at a premium — the population of the Greater Toronto Area has shot up from roughly 2.5 million when Yorkdale opened in 1964 to 6.4 million today — tales like Burton’s are hardly unique. It’s a problem the malls are painfully aware could cost them customers if it’s not solved. And they’re turning to a mix of new technology, old-fashioned valet service and more staff to help deal with it.In 2010, Yorkdale Shopping Centre began using electronic signs at the item to each of its parking lots to indicate how many spots were left in each section. Electronic sensors at the entrance and exit of each allow the signs to be updated in realtime. More recently, Yorkdale added that information to its website, along with a live chat. There are also “parking concierges” in the mall’s garages, directing would-be shoppers to free spots. The goal of it all? Making it easier to get people in and out of the mall. “We asked ourselves ‘how can we reduce our customers’ pain ...
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