There is a large, upscale shopping center in Birmingham, Alabama called The Summit. It's very nice, has a wide variety of shops, restaurants, and a multiplex movie theater. Tonight, Saturday night (November 5, 2005), we (and several thousand other potential shoppers) were kept from shopping and dining at The Summit's tenant stores and restaurants by the poor decisions made by the Summit's management.

My wife and I drove up from Montgomery (~100 miles) tonight to have a nice dinner at a restaurant at The Summit (map). At approximately 6:45pm we attempted to turn off of 280 onto Summit Boulevard to enter the shopping facility only to be turned away be a Sheriff's Deputy blocking the entrance. We drove around the back entrance and found another Sheriff's Deputy blocking the only other entrance. After stepping out to talk to the Deputy, we were told that there was a "lighting ceremony" (Christmas lights) with a fireworks show, and the fire marshal had dictated that there be no cars on the road during the fireworks (never mind there was constant out-bound traffic, just the in-bound traffic was stopped.) We parked at the head of the line and waited... and waited... and waited. As we sat in a traffic jam, unable to get in, or turn around and get out, we had plenty of time to think about customer service and what responsibilities a management company has to it's tenants and their customers.

I unfortunately don't have any direct connections with The Summit management or Bayer Properties, but there are a couple questions I'd like answered, for the benefit of all the customers who were turned away, for the tenants who lost significant business during the time those customers were turned away, and for the apartment residents who share Summit Boulevard as the only access to their homes (they were turned away as well.)

1. Who decided to hold the lighting ceremony on a busy Saturday evening in the middle of prime evening shopping and dining time?

2. Once someone found out about the car restriction as apparently imposed by the Fire Marshall, why were customer's turned away instead of canceling the fireworks?

3. How long had The Summit management known about the Fire Marshall's requirements? What was done to notify customers and apartment residents of the lack of access to The Summit and their homes during this time?

4. Who was the intended audience for the lighting ceremony? Was this audience more important than the thousands of potential shoppers and apartment residents you stranded in order to hold your ceremony?

Despite your marketing material's claims of "choice, clarity, and convenience in a shopper-friendly environment", I sincerely doubt your commitment to your tenant's business needs and your customer's convenience. Your tenants should be asking exactly how many of your statistically analyzed "$117 spent per visit" customers you had turned away tonight. I bet answer isn't a pretty one.

After my experience tonight, I will choose not to do business with shops at The Summit on my next trip to Birmingham. This is through no fault of the merchants, but due to the arrogance and lack of respect the management at the Summit paid to your tenant's customers tonight. There are ample alternatives to The Summit in Birmingham and your disgruntled customers will take their business elsewhere if you treat us this way.

If you were stuck in the traffic jams or tuned away, please feel free to comment on this posting. Consider sending a link to this posting to your friends and neighbors who shop at The Summit.

If you shop at The Summit, consider contacting Summit management or Bayer Properties to let them know that you don't appreciate being treated this way.

If you are a resident at Cameron at The Summit and you couldn't get home. please feel free to comment on this posting and pass a link to it to your friends.

If you are a tenant merchant at The Summit, please comment and/or pass a link to this posting to your corporate offices.

If you are the management at The Summit and would like to explain what happened tonight, I'd be glad to give you a platform on which to respond...

[Edit: 11/7/2005]
I talked briefly to the General Manager at The Summit and she blamed the (unnamed) fire marshal for the road blockage and disclaimed any prior knowledge that the roads would be blocked during the lighting show.
[/Edit]

Contact Information for The Summit:

Summit Management
Phone: (205) 967-0111

Bayer Properties Incorporated
Phone: (205) 939-3111

I'll post more contact info as I get it.