NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — As Nashville has grown, free parking in town has disappeared. That lack of available space is hurting Cumberland Hardware, a small business that has been around for more than 40 years.
The owners of the East Nashville store fear the lack of free parking may eventually put them out of business.
"We’ve been here for 42 years. The store’s been here for 126 years. It’s hard to see things go down like it is where people can’t even get to you," owner John Varallo said.
"It’ll probably put us out eventually... you can’t stay up forever because taxes are up in the neighborhood," Varallo said.
There is one-hour parking out front, but Varallo said employees, visitors, and other shoppers are parking there for too long. He has called parking enforcement, but the problem persists.
"Parking has gotten pretty bad in the last few years. It’s one hour parking. It's just not enforced so we get people who park there all day," he said.
Without a spot out front, do-it-yourself shoppers do not want to lug heavy tools and supplies to cars parked blocks away. Varallo also said it does not make sense for customers wanting a quick $2 item to pay $10 for two hours of parking.
"You’re doubling whatever the price is of your merchandise," Varallo said.
Bridget Stred, a customer who only had time for a quick errand to Cumberland Hardware, was worried she might get a ticket in the time it takes to run in and out.
"You can’t even get a pizza without getting a ticket. It’s kind of gotten out of hand," Stred said.
"It’s really sad actually. Give them some dedicated parking spaces because they deserve it. They’ve been here before Nashville got big," she said. "Parking is very hard to find, I will say. I had to park across the street, got some gas and my motorcycle there for a minute. Hopefully it’s still there when I get back."
The Varallos park several blocks away themselves and have asked their neighbors to help free up more one-hour parking spaces. The parking concerns keep customers from staying long enough to learn about the store's history or meet the house hardware cats.
Varallo said he wants to keep the doors open for the people in the community.
"They’ve supported us so we want to support them," he said.
Is a lack of parking or rapid growth impacting your small business? I want to hear from you. Email your story ideas to me at Amanda.Roberts@NewsChannel5.com
This story was reported on-air by Amanda Roberts and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
