Testing the Hypothesis

Improved parking at Publix on 13^thStreet and University Ave

·     Opportunity: The parking lot at this Publix location is constantly at capacity because there is no separate employee parking lot.

o  Who: Publix employees and customers

o  What: They are unable to find a parking spot quickly upon arrival

o  Why: No employee parking lot

·     Testing the who: Employees and customers of the adjacent Starbucks also have this problem. The who does not include people who take their scooter to either of these locations.

·     Testing the what: Scooter parking is excluded from this problem. The problem may also be more prominent at certain times of the day or certain days of the week, whenever Publix is busier than usual.

·     Testing the why: It could be that the lack of separate parking for employees causes the problem. It could also be that the Publix attracts more customers than project managers had initially planned so there just is not enough parking now. Maybe there is something else going on with people hogging spots for a different reason.

·     Interview #1: Frequent customer of this Publix and Starbucks

o  In this interview, I found out that this customer actually plans ahead for her trips to Publix or Starbucks because of the parking. She said that she will usually take her scooter if she is only getting coffee or just picking up a few items from Publix because she does not want to deal with finding a parking spot for her car for such a short amount of time. She said that she usually goes grocery shopping once a week, so she has to take her car then. She said it really depends on the day and time, but more often than not she does not find a vacant spot when she pulls into the Publix parking lot.

·     Interview #2: Employee of Publix

o  This interviewee has worked at this Publix since it opened last year. He does not have a scooter so he drives his car to work every time. He said that there used to be an employee parking lot across the street but employees were instructed not to park there anymore as of a few months ago. He said that he usually relies on getting lucky to find a parking spot in the Publix parking lot. He did not know why the old employee parking lot is not used since the lot sits empty now.

·     Interview #3: Starbucks regular

o  In this interview, I talked to a young woman who says she goes to this Starbucks almost every day because she lives just across the street. She said that she started noticing the parking shortage a few months ago but she expected it to be a short-term issue. However, she was surprised to see that week after week the parking situation never improved. She said that she usually walks to Starbucks because she knows that it is not worth the hassle to try and park, especially when she lives so close. She said that when she does drive, she tries to convince one of her roommates to go with her so that someone can wait in the car while the other goes inside to get their coffees.

·     Interview #4: Parent of a student who shops at this Publix

o  This interview was interesting because it offered a very different perspective than the others. The parent first noticed the parking problem when he was dropping off his daughter after winter break. He said that he wanted to help her get re-settled and ready for the beginning of a new semester by running errands with her. He said that they circled around the parking lot for a few minutes before he sent her inside to start shopping while he continued to search for a parking spot. He expressed frustration at the fact that he pays for his daughter to have a car so that she will use it, but it is clearly an unrealistic or more inconvenient option. He said that a remedy must be found.

·     Interview #5: Starbucks employee

o  This employee said that she had given up trying to plan ahead to find a spot and still make it on time for her shift. She said that she either has her husband drop her off, takes public transportation, or takes an Uber to work. She said that the parking lot is just too crowded and she does not think it’s worth her time to search for a parking spot every time she goes to work. She said that it is frustrating that no one has offered a solution to this problem yet because it has been an issue for at least three or four months.

·     Given these interviews, I have realized that many people are already finding alternatives to dealing with the lack of parking at this location. I also learned that it is a relatively recent problem but seemingly nothing has been done since it first arose.