THE PARKING LOT AS ECONOMIC GUIDE: Nina Yablok, Silicon Valley’s best business attorney, and Mrs. Ed Driscoll, says (on her Web log) that one of her personal leading economic indicators is parking lot space in malls. “Today I went to the Westgate Mall in San Jose. School’s not about to start and it’s no where near Christmas. It is slightly shy of Easter, but I don’t know if that’s normally a big shopping day. But at 2:30 pm the parking lot was exceedingly full. There was at least one car at the end of each aisle waiting for someone to leave. I finally went to Valet parking, which also had a line. And the Crocodile Cafe had a waiting list. So it seems that someone is at least thinking of shopping these days. Good sign for the economy.”
Yes, it’s an un-scientific survey, but I’d say this bodes well for Silicon Valley to recover its place in the economy in the coming months. And it’s nice to know the Retail Support Brigade isn’t shirking its duty these days!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member