Facing Stroller Gridlock, Park Slope Stores Crack Down

In Brooklyn's child-filled neighborhood of Park Slope, Barnes & Noble has sought to put the brakes on a rolling problem — stroller overcrowding.

The bookstore chain's Park Slope location set up something of a speed bump for the parental set when it posted a sign recently that said strollers were prohibited on its lower level.

"Due to overcrowding, strollers are NOT allowed downstairs," the sign read, according to a photo posted on the Internet. "Please park your stroller in the designated area on the first floor."

Web logs and Web sites picked up on the move, including the message group Park Slope Parents, which has more than 5,000 subscribers. The bookstore has since removed the sign and replaced it with an employee who politely points out the availability of spaces to park the mini-vehicles.

A Barnes & Noble spokeswoman, Carolyn Brown, insisted that the company had not received any complaints, but rather decided its new strategy would be a better approach than a sign.

The new policy, which Ms. Brown said is but a suggestion, is aimed at clearing the aisles.

"The store just thought it would make for a more comfortable shopping experience for shoppers if they wanted to leave their strollers on the first floor," she said.

The attempt to remove strollers from the aisles was a commendable one, many Barnes & Noble patrons and Park Slopers said, as the store can be absolutely clogged with them on weekends. Nannies and parents bring their children to the store as an activity center, and the strollers demand a great deal of space in the small aisles, according to residents.

"I almost tripped one time," a customer, Elaine Newkirk, said as she exited the store yesterday. "People — they just don't have the consideration to pull it aside."

Still, the co-owner of a nearby children's clothing store, Meghan Andrade, said she was torn by the idea of prohibiting strollers.

"Some of the other stores have asked people not to bring in strollers, and it just upsets people in the community because so many do have strollers — because it's part of your life," she said, adding that as a business owner she could understand the need for "free walking space."

The bookstore's move to limit strollers came amid an influx of families to the neighborhood. Residents say they can't walk down the street without tripping on strollers, and that some coffee shops look more like day care centers.

Barnes & Noble is not the first store in the neighborhood to raise the ire of stroller users.

The Park Slope kitchen and home supply store Tarzain West established a leave-your-strollers-at-the-front approach years ago, store manager Armando Balmacada said.

"Strollers wouldn't fit through the narrow aisles, and there's a lot of stuff hanging on the racks," he said.

The store once tried posting a sign asking shoppers to leave strollers outside, but took it down after shoppers complained.

Correction from February 13, 2007: Tarzian West is the spelling of the name of a Brooklyn kitchen and home supply store. The name was spelled incorrectly in an article on page 3 of the February 6 New York Sun.