Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 29, 1994 TAG: 9411290114
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
That's exactly what Valley View Mall's management did after its strategy to eliminate gridlock for holiday shoppers did exactly the opposite.
About 12:30 p.m. Friday, traffic workers at the mall closed the merge lanes behind Holdren's and Hechinger in the hopes of improving the flow of traffic along Valley View Boulevard. Instead, the road closing blocked thousands of cars from the lower parking lot from making it to the main thoroughfare.
Within three hours the road was reopened; the traffic gradually began to flow. But the reality of angry motorists - and, more important, thousands of frustrated mall customers - coaxed Valley View management to publicly apologize for the bottleneck in an ad in today's newspaper.
The traditional way of dealing with the throngs of holiday motorists will prevail, assured marketing manager Scott Ashcraft. More than two dozen security and off-duty police officers will continue to direct traffic along the mall's arteries during the holiday season.
"We do not anticipate repeating what happened on Friday," he said. "It's a fun time to shop and the mall is relatively easy to get in and out of ... I'm from Charlotte; believe me, it can get worse."
by CNB