Valet parking may be a boon to businesses
Company betting
Red Bank pilot program
will be a success
BY GLORIA STRAVELLI
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY staff Erik Lentine expects valet parking services in downtown Red Bank will be popular with shoppers and profitable for his company, Metropolitan Services Group.

With meters lining downtown streets and no parking garage in sight, Red Bank RiverCenter has come up with a way to keep visitors and shoppers coming to Red Bank.

On Friday, the downtown alliance began a test run of valet parking service on weekends that allows visitors to drop off and pick up their cars on Broad Street.

For a charge of just $5 for unlimited parking, families shopping in the downtown or couples out for a night on the town no longer need to circle the streets in search of a parking spot or run the risk of being fined $32 for an overdue meter.

"You don’t have to worry about driving around and looking for a spot or parking four blocks away," said Erik Lentine, owner of the Tinton Falls-based valet parking company that is running the pilot program.

"People love it. The whole thing is when you come here to shop, driving around looking for a parking spot is not fun," explained Lentine, founder of Metropolitan Services Group. "I think it’s really going to take off."

And valet parking is popular with businesses which are signing on to pick up the cost for customers.

"There’s been an outpouring; the way we’re being received is tremendous," said Lentine, Fair Haven. "We started talking to the restaurants, and businesses have been calling us."

Ashes, Red, Hamilton Jewelers and Osteria Dante have already contacted Lentine to say they would validate tickets and pick up the cost of valet parking for customers. Ashes even offered use of its parking lot.

According to Tricia Rumola, executive director of RiverCenter, the downtown alliance had the cooperation of Riverview Medical Center and the borough in working out the details of the valet service.

Riverview agreed to allow use of a 50-space gravel lot behind the Globe Parking Garage on Globe Court after 3:30 p.m. weekdays and all day on weekends. The Borough Council agreed the valet parking program could use four parking spaces on Broad Street for pick-up and drop-off.

Valet parking service is available in the downtown Thursdays from 3 to 10 p.m.; Fridays 3 p.m. to midnight; Saturdays 11 a.m. to midnight, and Sundays noon to 6 p.m.

Valets are stationed at the corner of Mechanic and Broad streets, where the drop-off point is in front of Ashes Cigar Club, and cars are picked up in front of Chelsea Home.

"This is a pilot program that we hope will grow as the demand increases," said Rumola. "It will run through October, when we will re-evaluate it to see whether to keep it in the downtown and extend it during the holidays."

Rumola said several valet parking companies were interviewed, but RiverCenter decided to go with a local concern.

"Metropolitan already is doing valet parking at Riverview," she explained. "It has a nice energy because they’re familiar with working in Red Bank."

RiverCenter is not subsidizing the program, she said. The cost is being covered entirely by parking fees, and Lentine thinks the service will be so popular it will pay for itself.

Metropolitan Services Group began offering valet parking service in the downtown last Friday, and by late Friday evening valets had parked about 20 cars, according to regional manager Michael Winters.

"This is my first time in town and it definitely will encourage me to come back," said John Hatem, Pompton Lakes, as he handed the keys to his car to valet parkers Friday.

"I know the municipal lot is just a block away, but I had a car full of kids and it was convenient," said Chris Dover, Bayhead and New York.

Lentine founded Metropolitan Services Group in January 2003, modeling the company on a parking service operated by his brother, David, in Washington, D.C.

"I researched it and found that hospitals will be turning to valet parking in the next five years. And, it adds a hospitality spin to hospitals," explained Lentine, who left a post as general manager of the Ocean Place Resort in Long Branch to grow the company.

Lentine began Metropolitan with one hospital account in north Jersey and two employees, and in just a year and a half, the company has grown to more than 100 employees and is approaching $3 million in annual revenues.

At Riverview, the service provided valet parking during the hospital’s recent expansion, which took up part of the hospital parking lot.

"We parked 250-350 cars per day during construction," he said.

The company still parks between 100-150 cars per day at the hospital.

Lentine attributes Metropolitan’s success to its unique approach.

"We service a bunch of hospitals and we bring hospitality to the hospital setting," he explained. "Our guys are out there greeting people. They say, ‘Good morning. Can we help direct you?’

"We don’t only park cars. More or less, we control the front of the hospital — anything from directing traffic to grabbing a wheelchair for someone who needs one. We do whatever we have to," Lentine said.

"I always say anybody can bring a car from point A to point B. The other part, the hospitality part, we make sure we kind of stand out."

Metropolitan currently provides valet services at 12 hospitals in an area that ranges from upstate New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, to Delaware and Maryland.

Recently, the service picked up several country clubs and has had inquiries from a few hotels.

"It’s exceeded my expectations by 100 percent," he said. "It’s a small business dream."

Because he’s a local, Lentine said, he understands the parking situation in town and is betting that Red Bank’s status as a popular destination will make the operation profitable.

"We’re not charging like we would someplace else," he said. "I think we can park enough cars to cover the cost and hopefully make a couple of dollars."

The service has to park 50 cars per day to break even, he said.

Lentine attributes the company’s meteoric success to his background in the hospitality field.

"It goes to my hotel background. I want clean-cut people so when you give your $50,000 BMW to them, you’re not worried about it.

"It’s not just parking cars. When I talk to clients, that’s what they’re looking for. There are many companies that park cars. I say it’s a little different what we do. We stand out; it’s the personal touch."

According to Rumola, Red Bank is the first downtown to offer valet parking.

"I’m not aware of another downtown shopping district to initiate valet parking," she said.

"We just felt it was a nice customer service, and that’s what we pride ourselves on," she said.

"It adds value to shopping in Red Bank."