Lombard Cruise Nights compromise adds customer parking

Amid all the usual excitement for Lombard’s 13th annual Cruise Nights, a couple downtown entrepreneurs were less than thrilled about classic cars parking along St. Charles Road in spots usually occupied by their customers.

Owners and managers of shops that depend on easy access, such as Bona Pizza and a liquor store, 20 West, worried Cruise Nights cars would block not only their customers’ parking, but also their profits.

“Without parking and direct access to our store, our sales drop,” said Angie Johnson, manager of 20 West.

Cars on display park along St. Charles Road near Park Avenue during the car show series, which runs weekly from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturdays beginning June 4 and ending Aug. 27, except for July 2.

But this year, Cruise Nights organizers will set aside two spaces on St. Charles Road between 20 West and Bona Pizza for five-minute customer parking, said Joelyn Kott, Lombard spokeswoman, who volunteers to run the event. The spots will be designated with signs posted all summer.

“It’s intended for pizza pickup or delivery or for customers to run in and out,” Kott said. “We feel this will be a better solution to help the businesses that are looking for that in-and-out business on Saturdays.”

Also new this year, Cruise Nights organizers are offering downtown business owners 10 suggestions to showcase themselves to Cruise Nights crowds, including:

Ÿ Run a Cruise Night special;

Ÿ Come up with a catchy name and run a charity drive;

Ÿ Sell Cruise Night-themed merchandise;

Ÿ Run a trivia game;

Ÿ Get volunteers to pass out fliers promoting an event or a sale.

Next Stop Thrift Shop on Park Avenue is using one of the tips and selling a special item — rain barrels — at the event, said co-owners Kathy Nelson and Marcy Castillo.

Downtown businesses are given priority permission to sell food or set up tables outside during the events, Kott said. Lombard businesses in other locations must be selling something not available at any downtown venue to be allowed to set up shop at Cruise Nights.

“It inconveniences downtown more with traffic, so we want to help them first,” Kott said.

The event’s downtown environment outshines car shows held in parking lots, said Kim Cotton, owner of Feel Good Hair in downtown Lombard, who often attends other similar events with her husband. A large crowd usually participates and volunteers treat everyone well, she added.

And Lombard’s event sets itself apart by accepting all types of cars every week, instead of running a night only for Chevys or convertibles.

“We welcome all cars every night, that’s what makes our show ours,” Kott said.

St. Charles Road will stay accessible to drivers for the entire four-hour duration of each Cruise Nights event, said Rich Uczen, a Villa Park resident and Cruise Nights volunteer.

“You can still drive down St. Charles,” he said, in either a classic show vehicle on display or an average car on the way home. “Closing it is a no-no.”

Even with two parking spots reserved for shoppers instead of Cruise Nights show cars, Kott said she expects the events to draw hundreds of people from several towns.

“The No. 1 purpose in doing this was to increase traffic in the downtown and so I think I’ve been successful in doing that,” Kott said. “It is our goal to increase foot traffic to help the downtown businesses, not to hinder them.”

What: Lombard Cruise Nights

When: 6 to 10 p.m. Saturdays June 4 through Aug. 27

Where: St. Charles Road and Park Avenue, downtown Lombard

Who: Sponsored by village of Lombard

Cost: Free concerts and entertainment each week, food and other items for sale

Info: (630) 620-5718 or villageoflombard.org