Reader: Corporate Greed Is Going to Be the End of Us All

First, the Cherry Creek Shopping Center started charging customers to park in its garage. Now employees will have to pay the price.

By Westword Readers

March 15, 2025

Cherry Creek Shopping Center has found a new source of revenue: employees who park at work. Flickr/Forrest Norvell

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Back in 2017, customers of the Cherry Creek Shopping Center learned they would have to pay to park in its multi-level parking garage after the first hour, and the window has only narrowed since then. In 2020, the free parking was limited to fifteen minutes, after which customers would be charged $2 for up to two hours, with each additional hour costing $2.

But employees of the mall's many stores and eateries didn't have to pay for parking...until now. A recent notice from Cherry Creek management notified all mall workers who use the garage that they now must pay at least $20 a month for a parking pass.

In their comments on the Westword Facebook post of the change, readers do not give the Cherry Creek Shopping Center a pass. Says Greg:

Tell me your mall needs money without telling me your mall needs money...

Responds Det:

Cherry Creek Management taking lessons from Vegas.

Adds Jody:

We live a mile away and used to go all the time. The place was always packed. After the parking fees, the mall was far less crowded. After COVID, even more so. We now only go to see a movie and parking is comped. What a terrible business model! It is almost like they are trying to get the stores to close.

Offers Nat:

I used to be an employee at Cherry Creek. If this were something I had to face. I’d try to locate to a different store. Corporate greed is going to be the end of us all.

Adds Pamela:

Twenty bucks a month does not seem like a lot to pay, but every little expense increase chips away at already low wages. It all adds up to be unaffordable for many individuals.

Suggests Brooke:

Their employer needs to pay for them to park.

Counters Katie:

I wish this was the standard. I just left a job that didn’t pay for our parking, and it was costing over $1,000 a year just to park at my own office. My new company pays for a parking pass or an RTD pass.

Notes Charlie:

Sadly, that’s Cherry Creek. I work in the area and I get discounted parking from my employer for $75 monthly at a nearby garage. Friends who work downtown have to pay $150 monthly and that’s subsidized by their employer, which is even crazier.

Comments Madilyn:

No free parking for city employees working downtown, either. It’s at least $14+ a day.

Concludes Erin:

There’s no such thing as free parking, folks. It’s just who pays.

What do you think of the new parking policy at Cherry Creek Shopping Center? The mall itself? Post a comment or share your thoughts at [email protected].

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