Nearly two months into Cherry Creek Shopping Center’s new pay-parking system, tenants of the Denver mall aren’t exactly singing its praises.

One store owner called the change a “total disaster,” pointing to a Facebook page with more than 2,100 followers as of Monday demanding mall management bring back free parking.

“People really want to boycott the mall,” said Mike Murphy, owner of the Steve Madden shoe stores in Colorado. “They’re so upset about it. It’s not about the money. It’s about the principle.”

Murphy estimates customer traffic at his flagship Cherry Creek location has fallen 20 percent to 50 percent year over year since the mall’s “smart parking” system went live Jan. 17.

“The parking lot is a ghost town,” he said.

He’s not alone, either. Other mall tenants also reported a downtick in customer foot traffic as, they say, many shoppers rush to get in and out before their hour of free parking expires.

“Every single tenant is down. It’s not just one or the other, or maybe we need to figure out something different that someone else has figured out,” said Kyle Fabra, owner of Cinnaholic, a vegan cinnamon-roll shop that opened in the mall in November. “We’re all in the same boat.”

Under the new system, the first hour of parking is free in any of the mall’s garages or surface lots. After that, the second hour is $3, the third is another $1 and each hour thereafter runs another $2.

Customers pull a ticket at the gate to a parking area and then pay at one of 27 kiosks stationed at mall exits before returning to their vehicles. About 20 shops and restaurants offer validation, including the AMC Cherry Creek 8 movie theater, Boulder Running Company, The Container Store and Elway’s.

Mall management on Monday acknowledged the foot traffic concerns but said they were still confident the benefits of the parking system would “outweigh any short-term disruptions that may be evident to our tenants and customers now.”

“When we implemented our smart parking system, we expected and are seeing what we believe is a temporary shift in consumer behavior,” general manager Nick LeMasters said. “We don’t believe what we’re seeing is indicative of a long-term trend. We’re in a settling period, an adjustment period.

“We’re sensitive to the fact that some of our merchants are struggling with this, but over the long term, this will prove out to be a wise decision.”

The “smart parking” system was originally pitched to protect a valuable mall asset — convenient parking — for paying customers as the surrounding Cherry Creek neighborhood continues to develop and densify. In the past, the mall’s 5,001 free spots had been popular with commuters and people shopping and dining across the street in Cherry Creek North.

“We made a very significant investment in the parking system,” LeMasters said. “If it were just about collecting money, we would have put up gates and called it a day. But what we did is implement a parking system that is state of the art to help our customers navigate parking on a busy day.”

At the end of the day, customers will visit to shop at the new, first-to-market stores calling Cherry Creek home, LeMasters said. High-end Detroit watchmaker Shinola is under construction on a store, its first in Denver, and more announcements are forthcoming.

“We think nothing of paying for parking at the airport, at (Denver Center for Performing Arts), downtown or even in Cherry Creek North,” LeMasters said. “We still have a phenomenal shopping destination, the strongest in the six-state region. We still have stores that no one else has.”

But some store owners said they would like to see mall ownership do more to help merchants during the adjustment period.

“If they’ve done all the studies and understand that it’s going to take some time and it will normalize, they need to abate some of our expenses during this time,” Fabra said. “We weren’t on the voting committee to decide if paid parking should happen. That decision was just made by the landlord.”

Business at Cinnaholic, which is located near the mall’s play area, is down 40 percent from what was expected this time of year, he said. The shop, a franchise location of a growing Berkeley, Calif.-born chain, recently added a kosher certification in hopes of attracting more customers.

“Normally when you’re in a mall, you’re there for the captive audience. We’re trying to figure out ways to bring people into the mall specifically for us,” Fabra said. “It’s not as easy as it’s said.”

Murphy’s Steve Madden store is offering to validate shoppers’ second hour of parking — no purchase required — for the entire month of March, but he said it only helps if people come to the mall in the first place.

“This is a mall ownership experiment that’s costing us,” he said. “It’s not like there’s a break in the rent — I’m paying the same amount, but I’m having half as many people walk in the door.”

His other Colorado locations, including a store at Park Meadows, have not seen similar downturns, he said.

“Even if they decide tomorrow to get rid of pay parking, the effects would linger,” Murphy said. “We’re teaching them (customers) to shop online or at another mall. Once you learn those habits, it’s very hard to break.”

Kseni Mademoiselle, which sells French macarons and other desserts from a kiosk in the mall, has also lost “a little bit” of business since paid parking went into effect, project manager Darya Rioux said.

But she said the company isn’t worried about it yet.

“We’re still getting business, just not as much as we had before,” Rioux said.