Cherry Creek Shopping Center is off-limits to two Denver taxi companies following the mall’s decision to go exclusively with two other cab operators.
Effective last week, Cherry Creek mall owner Taubman Co. chose to give access only to Metro Taxi and Yellow Cab at the mall’s taxi stand.
Cherry Creek general manager Nick LeMasters said the deal with Metro and Yellow is a sponsorship in which the cab companies pay to lease taxi space at the mall in exchange for exclusive rights to pick up shoppers.
“Sponsorships have become an integral part of the mall business structure,” he said. “Companies have identified malls as an additional type of marketing channel. We hope they see value in aligning with the Cherry Creek brand.”
The mall has sponsorship deals with other firms — including HealthOne, Stapleton developer Forest City, Murray Motor Imports and Qwest — in which the companies have kiosks, signage and rights to offer special events.
LeMasters said Cherry Creek is considered Denver’s third-busiest taxi location, after Denver International Airport and the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center.
Under the new policy, Denver’s other two main carriers, Freedom Cab and Union Taxi, can drop passengers off at Cherry Creek but can’t wait for new fares on the mall cab stand next to Neiman Marcus.
LeMasters said that because the stand is on private property, there are no prohibitions on offering access to designated taxi companies.
Union Taxi attorney Ray Gifford disagrees. Gifford, of the Denver firm Kamlet Reichert, said he plans to appeal to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission on grounds that the exclusive deal is anti-competitive. The PUC regulates taxi companies.
“It’s very difficult to see how the public interest is served by cab companies giving kickbacks to private property owners,” Gifford said. “I don’t see how that’s beneficial in any way to the public.”
Union Taxi driver Solomon Hailu, waiting Wednesday in the downtown Sheraton cab stand, said he views the Cherry Creek policy as “harassing us.”
“Why shouldn’t we be able to pick up customers at Cherry Creek?” he said.
A Freedom Cab driver at the downtown hotel who declined to be identified said he will boycott Cherry Creek.
“If somebody asks me where to go shopping, I will tell them Park Meadows or the 16th Street Mall,” he said. “Why should I tell them Cherry Creek?”
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
