Shoppers Feel The Pain After Cars Parked In Lots Near Trader Joe's Get Towed
DENVER (CBS4) - Customers at the new Trader Joe's grocery store on Colorado Boulevard are finding that parking is hard to come by, and some are paying the price for parking where they shouldn't.
The store at 8th and Colorado opened last Friday and their lot has about 90 spots. When CBS4 crews were there on Tuesday shoppers were circling the lot waiting for a space to open up. Some parked several blocks away just to get a chance to shop at the store.
Other customers have tried parking in the lots of nearby businesses, despite the signs warning them their car could be towed.
Julie Perlmutter told CBS4 she was one of four different car owners who had their cars towed after parking in a nearby lot and going into Trader Joe's. She had to share a cab with others who were in the same situation she was in. It cost each car owner $280 to retrieve their car from the impound lot once they got there.
Perlmutter said she doesn't think her car should have been towed. She didn't see any signs warning her against parking in the specific spot she chose in a US Bank lot at 730 Colorado Boulevard. She went in the bank to do her banking and then walked over to Trader Joe's to shop there. When she came back her car was gone.
"There were tow trucks everywhere," she said. "The second you walk towards Trader Joe's, you're gone. It sucked."
Perlmutter said two other cars were towed from that lot after being parked for only five minutes. She said the towing company is just waiting for someone to miss the warning signs.
"If someone is there and they see it happen they have enough time to call the towing company and for them to come over and tow your car," she said.
The operator of the parking lot said parking has been a problem since before Trader Joe's moved in. He said there's an attendant watching the lot who tries to warn illegal parkers but that person isn't required to before calling a tow company. He said it isn't their goal to tow people, but to protect the businesses on the lot.
CBS4 called the towing company to ask about their practices at the lot, but they didn't return the calls before Tuesday's CBS4 News at 10 p.m. newscast.
