‘We made a mistake’; Kern’s Food Hall explains how parking will work

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) – On Thursday, Kern’s Food Hall announced it is reversing its decision to charge for parking for guests who stay longer than two hours. A managing partner told 6 News that the food hall made a mistake.

The parking fees were announced on August 29, but a Kern spokesperson confirmed to 6 News on Thursday that they had decided to suspend the planned parking fees.

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“We rolled it out about eight days ago and then realized we made a mistake. It was done very quickly to, we thought, ease traffic and provide a better parking experience for customers,” said Alex Dominguez, managing partner of Kern’s Bakery. “We didn’t communicate properly and get it done right fast enough. So we’re pulling it back and there will be free parking for everyone who comes to Kern’s.”

Dominguez explained that instead of paying for parking, there will be a validation process for Kern’s customers. Parking fees and validation will continue to be managed by parking management provider Metropolis, which uses a license plate reader.

When customers who already have an account with Metropolis visit Kern’s, they will receive a text message and after making a purchase, scan a QR code, which will validate their parking ticket. After that, they can stay as long as they like and parking is free.

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For those using the service for the first time, Dominguez explained that they will need to scan a QR code to sign up for the service, link their license plate and then follow the same steps as those who already have an account.

He explained that Kern’s has already been working with Metropolis for the past 48 hours and an agreement has been reached to suspend all parking fees until the QR codes are printed and installed.

Dominguez also explained that the parking fees were implemented because of concerns that the parking lots would be full during Tennessee football games, leaving customers who wanted to visit the food hall without a parking spot. He also shared that the system was not communicated properly and customers were surprised.

“With the UT games and all the people that can come into town at once, it was a little scary to make sure we didn’t have a situation where the vendors were hurt because we want the vendors to be successful and we want everyone to have a great experience when they come to Kerns. So it would have been bad to show up and not have a parking spot,” Dominguez said. “We want to have a positive impact on the community around us and if you’ve lost that trust because of something related to parking and nobody likes it, then we have to address it.”

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When parking fees were first announced, Kern’s Food Hall said parking fees would be higher on game days. While it wasn’t said outright Thursday, it appears those who park at Kern’s and don’t purchase anything will still have to pay parking fees through Metropolis.

After years of construction, Kern’s Food Hall opened in April. Since then, the area has seen increased traffic, prompting the City of Knoxville to install new crosswalks and traffic lights at the intersection of Fort Avenue and Chapman Highway.

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