This story was syndicated with permission by Ardina Seward from the SW YONKERS’ HAMLETHUB
The Dollar Tree parking lot located at 303 S. Broadway, Yonkers, has become a default free parking storage facility. For more than one year, the lot has been filled with cars on a 24 hour basis. Many of the vehicles and trucks are parked semi permanently. They remain unmoved for months. Several do not have license plates and belong to private companies. A casual observation reveals people parking their cars in the lot and not entering Dollar Tree on a constant basis.
On the weekend, club patrons use the lot as an overnight venue. There is no chain or preventative measure to keep them out. As a result, the lot becomes littered with debris and is open to nocturnal dumping in the trash area. This encourages rodents and environmental concerns. Photos indicate debris blocking sewer drains which leads to back up not only in the lot but potential flooding in nearby houses in the event of severe weather.
The day time photos were taken on Monday, April 3, 2023. The photos were taken in the late evening. At that time, there were approximately twenty shoppers in the store. Despite the paucity of people in the store, the parking lot was full. A follow up of night time photos was done five days later at midnight. That set of pictures shows some of the same vehicles in the lot that were never moved.
Why is this important to Dollar Tree?
In an era of retail theft, Dollar Tree stores are losing revenue on a daily basis. This is compounded by the lack of parking spaces for legitimate shoppers at the store. Since there is no place to park, legitimate shoppers are not patronizing this store.
The South Broadway location is in a busy corridor of other retail stores. It does attract small purchasers due to it’s proximity to bus stops and street pedestrian traffic. However, those who would spend more money on larger volume are being turned away due to the inability to use the parking lot. This causes a drop in profits. However, Dollar Tree recoups that loss by raising prices and short staffing their store. This places undue stress on workers and reduces employment opportunities. On most occasions, there are only two cashiers to accommodate shoppers. This causes a back up with long lines and wait time. In the post pandemic era, extended close proximity in stores is still a public health threat.
Despite all economic headwinds, their business strategy has served them well. The Dollar Tree stock price is $149.04 per share as of this writing. It reflects a steady increase in profit based on cost cutting and product demand.
The remedy falls within the parameters of the Yonkers BID, the Dollar Tree landlord and the Dollar Tree corporation. Yet, all have done nothing to correct the problem https://southbroadwaybid.org/what-we-do/
The perception is that there are no consequences for those who violate the parking rules. Until someone does something, the public will continue to endure rats, environmental pollution and clogged sewers due to retailer apathy. In a city that constantly touts improvement and entices a younger, hipper generation to move to the Y.O., this would prove counter to their efforts .Quality of life begins with the simple things.
Dollar Tree was contacted for this article but to date has not responded.
