Quietly, behind the scenes at APCOA/Standard Parking facilities, major decisions are being made based on the spiritual components of white paint. What shade will best connote safety and the cleanest look for the walls? How much of the curbs can be covered without creating the impression of garishness? How thick should lane dividers be? Some may think these issues are about as exciting as watching paint dry, but at APCOA/Standard Parking, the second-largest parking management services company in the country, this kind of attention to aesthetic detail is a passion.

When put in charge of a parking facility, the first thing our managers do is grab the paint cans and head for the areas that receive the most pedestrian and vehicular traffic. At APCOA/Standard Parking, we love white paint - we know that painting strategic portions of ceilings, walls and columns near entrances and exits helps improve the ability of customers to transition comfortably from bright daylight. Parking equipment, beams, pedestals, ramps and curbs all get the white paint treatment. Of course, we break down and apply red paint to the fire extinguisher boxes.

Such obsessiveness can often have a positive impact on the bottom line. Under APCOA/Standard Parking's watch, Lita Johnson, senior property manager with the Trammell Crow Company, has noted dramatic improvement in the financial performance of the parking facilities at Seattle's Union Bank of California Center. "Since Standard Parking has been our operator, the tenant and management service has been exemplary, the appearance of the garage has significantly improved, and the parking revenues have increased. From the corporate management to the on-site attendants, I find their customer service and professionalism to be outstanding," Lita says.

APCOA/Standard Parking constantly searches for the little touches that can create inviting, user-friendly environments. Who said parking companies don't think outside the box?

One reason to keep a parking facility looking great is to be able to shine when the spotlights come on, even when parking is not directly part of the show. For example, once a year along Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach, California, participants in the Long Beach California Grand Prix roar past five parking facilities operated by APCOA/Standard Parking. With cameras and people everywhere, and the whole auto-racing world focused on this Grand Prix event, this is no time for parking properties to appear dingy or dark.

The Long Beach Grand Prix is billed as the largest sporting event west of the Mississippi River, drawing crowds each year in excess of 200,000. The race is telecast live in the United States and around the world to an audience of 52 million in more than 190 countries. Needless to say, the eyes of the cameras as well as all the racing fans, sponsors, team owners and drivers converging on the area put all city amenities—including the parking facilities—in the spotlight.

It wasn't long ago that racing fans—along with patrons of the nearby city aquarium, the Long Beach Convention Center, the county and federal courthouse, and Shoreline Square, among others—had to put up with parking facilities noted for old and crumpled signs, faded paint, dilapidated cashier booths, broken fencing and electrical cable lying all around. Not exactly a place to bring the family.

APCOA/Standard Parking repainted the booths and restripped the parking lanes, upgraded and relocated all the signage (including strategically positioning all-day parking signs on the heavily traveled Ocean Boulevard side of the facility), and adjusted staffing schedules so part-time attendants could help sweep and maintain the lots. And yes, everything was brought up to code, including the necessary upgrades to make the facilities completely ADA accessible.

These improvements, along with revenue enhancement plans, increased net revenue by $100,000 in 1999 and significantly reduced operating expenses for owner Camden Realty, which is quite pleased to see the changes brought about by the new APCOA/Standard Parking management. The ability to turn parking properties like these around is a distinctive, value-added benefit that APCOA/Standard Parking can offer. Plus, not worrying about your car makes watching an auto race a lot more fun!

And by the way, Canadian Paul Tracy roared back from a 17th-place starting position in his Team Kool Green Honda/Reynard to capture the 26th running of the Long Beach California Grand Prix.

When APCOA/Standard Parking took over parking operations at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, it embarked on a comprehensive program to improve lighting, signage and access. Extensive aesthetic improvements at O'Hare were needed, including new landscaping on terminal roadways, lane restrippings, installation of fiber-optic lane-control signs, new rate and directional signage, refurbished cashier booths and employee uniforms, upgraded elevator and stairwell painting, and enhanced facility lighting and level restoration programs.

The airport also wanted something unique to help airline passengers and visitors navigate a 23,000-space parking complex. APCOA/Standard Parking suggested a theme floor reminder system, built upon the logos and music of Chicago's prominent sports teams. Now, the parking tickets and elevator vestibules for each level of the main parking facility showcase one of the city's professional sports teams. Tear sheets displaying the team logo and corresponding level number are provided for customers in the elevator vestibule, where each team's theme song plays.

Chicago's sports teams may run hot and cold, but its airport always produces a revenue winner. APCOA/Standard Parking's aesthetic improvements at O'Hare, along with security and revenue-control changes, helped the airport report gross parking revenues of $93 million in 1999, more than double the 1993 figure, and a 28 percent increase in paid vehicle exits during the same period, even though total passenger enplanements increased only 11 percent. Under APCOA/Standard Parking's tenure, parking at O'Hare is now a grand-slam home run, everyday!

We're proud to have played a role in this transformation. Putting parking attendants in uniforms with ties, painting every inch of the facility up to and including the ceiling, and even dumping the trash every day may not seem revolutionary now, but they were not too long ago.

Of course, the invention we're most known for is our musical theme garages. While nothing better represents our unique approach to the parking experience, we strive to make certain that all our locations, not just those with a musical theme, leave our customers humming a happy tune.

Although the standards have heightened over the years, and most parking operators make at least some effort to keep their facilities clean, we believe our passion for the aesthetic side of the business still sets us apart—and helps us keep pushing the bar a little bit higher.

The most frequent complaint in the parking business comes from the poor lost soul wandering the parking garage, desperately trying to remember where he left his car. "How did I, a reasonably intelligent person, get into this mess?" he muses. If he had parked in one of APCOA/Standard Parking's themed garages, he'd be on the highway already!

Myron Warshauer, chief executive officer of APCOA/Standard Parking, developed musical theme garages in the early 1980s. The company had been awarded a contract to operate a 1,200-space garage to be the focal point of a Chicago complex known as the Transportation Center. "I came across the idea by accident," Myron says. "This is a 10-level facility with a clear transportation motif. I figured if we identified each floor with a city and then played a song associated with that particular city, the car location would stick with the customer."

It did. Using songs like "New York, New York" and "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" in the Transportation Center was such a success that the company soon patented its musical floors idea and rolled out the concept to many of its parking operations across the country. By turning the parking experience into a trip down memory lane, APCOA/Standard Parking and its clients make life just a little bit easier for their parking customers.

Among the themes in use are those honoring countries, musical instruments and popular singers. According to Myron, "one of the most enjoyable parts of the parking facility owner's job is choosing the songs for every floor!" Owners are careful, however, to select encouraging titles for each floor's play list—songs such as "Tonight and the Rest of My Life" and "Somewhere Out There" are probably best left for radio. The musical floor reminder system—used in conjunction with Books-to-Go^®, Films-to-Go^®, Little Parkers^®, ParkNet^® and other APCOA/Standard Parking amenity programs—provides the value-added edge that can tangibly improve your property's image and financial performance. Plus, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that your customers are leaving your parking facility whistling a happy tune!