People in pink blazers and blue jackets were begging to park my car for me today
All of a sudden, I felt like I was in the middle of a war - to park my car.
The valet service being used by the conference was called Luxe Valet.
First, I pointed out all my car's flaws (yes, that giant dent in the door was already there). I asked my valet Christopher to please remember to turn it off before he whisked it away to an unknown lot. Then I handed over my baby and its janitor-sized keyring.
As I turned, suddenly a man in a bright pink blazer ran up and shoved a Caarbon flyer in my hand.
"Next time, park with Caarbon," he said.
Here I was, using an on-demand valet parking for the first time ever, and I was caught in the middle of San Francico's startup parking wars: blue jackets versus pink blazers. Razor scooters versus black umbrellas. Guerrilla marketing tactics.
Luxe valets have become an increasingly common sight in San Francisco. They wear bright blue jackets and zip around on matching blue scooters, although some choose to run and get in their cardio workout.
Joining their fray is the new kid on the block: Caarbon (soon to become Carbon with just one "a." The company is only in limited testing now.)
Their agents, as they call them, wear pink blazers and stand with one arm behind their back. They open the door for women first and escort everyone to and from their car with a black umbrella.
Inside the conference, which was all about the "on-demand" economy, the founder of another valet service, Zirx, spoke about how he didn't need to compete outside.
"There's blue shirts outside and pink shirts outside. We probably think the least about competition," said Shmulik Fishman. "I would hate to be in a space where nobody is trying anything remotely connected."
Back outside, though, the competition was visible based on just the flashy jackets. (Zirx agents, according to their site, wear yellow).
The Luxe valets hung inside their parking lot, while Carbon agents stood on the outside by the entrance.
"We embrace it. Pink versus blue," said Bill Bonhorst, an operations manager at Carbon. "We will escort you to the curb with an umbrella. We're not going to roll up to the curb with a scooter or a skateboard." He compared it to the Four Seasons level of service rather than a Holiday Inn.
Luxe valets, though, didn't back down.
"We're pretty much the only true on demand," said Michael Skillman, who has been a valet since October. He said Zirx operates only around their garages, while Luxe has a whole umbrella over the city.
And while Carbon's operations managers said they shared the parking lot, the Luxe valets countered that the startup only had a few spaces, while Luxe controls the entire bottom floor. Zirx wasn't there at all.
Meanwhile, outside a bicycle was parked with a sign advertising Upshift - a company that delivers rental cars on demand. In case you don't already have a car to park.
Bootstrapped marketing at its best.
