BIZNOTE: Emerald Water Anglers offers to cover your parking tab

First offer of this kind that we’ve heard of since the West Seattle Junction Association‘s four parking lots switched from free to fee last Friday: fishing-and-outdoor-gear shop Emerald Water Anglers (4502 42nd SW; WSB sponsor) is offering to cover customers’ parking cost for the lot across the street: “Spend $25 while here and we will credit you back your $2 on your sale.” They’re open until 7 pm; like many independent local businesses, they offer online shopping too, so you don’t have to park at all.

Al King January 18, 2021 (1:26 pm)

Hmmmm. Makes me wonder if there is a concern over the parking fees driving(no pun intended)customers away. The fact they’re offering this is telling. I get the junction’s financial issues but if they get fewer cars, meaning fewer customers they run the risk of losing more than the $2.

Brian Hodges January 19, 2021 (8:25 am)

If a business is only concerned about customers not paying for parking, one of our vacant mall store fronts might be the best place to head.

skeeter January 18, 2021 (3:56 pm)

I get it. Emerald Water wants to keep customers happy. And they don’t want to lose customers over a couple bucks of parking fees. But I hope this is not the start of a trend. We really don’t want to start offering a financial incentive to those who drive a car. Just the opposite. If we’re trying to create a sustainable city, we should be offering a financial incentive to those who are able or willing to walk, bike, or take transit. I hope Jort is able to contribute to the conversation as well.

Anne January 18, 2021 (4:32 pm)

Junction businesses will flourish with a mix of walkers & drivers- not one or the other.
Resident January 18, 2021 (5:32 pm)

There are a lot of people like myself that live too far away from the junction to bike or walk or jog. I drive to the junction. Just because I drive to the junction it doesn’t make me a bad person it means I live quite a distance away in Arbor Heights. Building a sustainable city doesn’t have to exclude cars. You’re trying to solve the wrong problem. More electric cars are what’s needed not fewer of them.If you exclude customers from miles away you don’t have enough density in the junction to support all of those businesses.
- Brian Hodges January 19, 2021 (8:12 am)
  
  No one is calling you a bad person. But driving to dense, expensive areas…..means paying to store your private property.It’s not complicated.
- skeeter January 19, 2021 (9:58 am)
  
  Resident – thanks for your post. I don’t think driving a car makes you a bad person. I drive my car all the time. It’s fast, safe, comfortable, and I can listen to my favorite music. My concern is congestion, pollution, and traffic. We’ve got to convince some folks to walk, bike, and take transit. Otherwise traffic will just get worse and we’ll all be wasting more time in traffic. Offering a discount to people who drive provides an economic incentive for customers to drive their own car. That doesn’t make sense to me. But it clearly does make sense to this vendor. So I suppose it’s ultimately their call on how they want to incentivize their customers.
AMD January 18, 2021 (5:51 pm)

I hope this isn’t the start of a trend back to these small businesses shouldering the cost of parking because $2 is apparently all that stands between “supporting small business” and ordering everything from Amazon.
Elton January 19, 2021 (1:26 am)

In non-COVID times, people come from out of West Seattle to shop here from time to time. Quite a long bike ride or bus commute from some of these places to get to West Seattle versus a quick drive. I’m all for sustainable transit, but it’s not always practical to bike/walk/bus in this city.

CarDriver January 18, 2021 (4:37 pm)

skeeter. In case you didn’t know based on past posts jort is also a car driver. But i’ll ask you. How would you replace the lost revenue from car tabs and gas tax and sales tax from car ; car part’s & services???; If cars go away so does a lot of money the gov’t collects.

Reed January 18, 2021 (8:18 pm)

Income tax
Maria January 18, 2021 (11:07 pm)

Why is it always debated as either/or. I use a variety of transportation modes, but pay the same car tab fees and property taxes (which supports roads) as all, so you get a greater value of revenue from me vs the impact I have on the road surface and congestion.
skeeter January 19, 2021 (9:53 am)

CarDriver – thanks for your post! Are you serious that Jort has a car? Now I *definitely* don’t want businesses to offer discounts to people who drive cars. If Jort drives his car to the junction and parks in a pay lot then Jort should pay the parking fees just like you and me.As for lost revenue from car tabs and sales taxes on cars – I really doubt cars are going away. They are far too useful, fast, and comfortable for most folks, including me. But if everyone decides to no longer have a car because pay parking is too expensive, then I’m sure government coffers could be filled with some combination of sales taxes, property taxes, excise taxes, and B&O taxes. All these taxes are already set up and fully functioning in our great state.

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