Our Story
From There to Here - The Sunset Story
What a long, strange, exciting, inspiring and amazing trip its been.

In the Very Beginning . . .
The Sunset story actually began in the early 70's in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Sunset founder Michael Harth and his two best friends Alan Lazowski and Jeff Karp found themselves attending Bloomfield Jr. High and focusing on life's key elements: girls, sports and occassionally doing their homework. The three agreed it would be "cool" to all work together when they are "old", then got back to the business of being thirteen.

A Company Is Born
Cut to 1981. Michael, now a senior at the University of California San Diego, has an idea for a company: valet parking cars for local restaurants. Sunset Parking Service is born. He lets friends Alan and Jeff in on the idea - the three had remained close since their school days in Bloomfield. They like the concept so much both follow suit - Alan starting a valet service in Hartford, Connecticut and Jeff in Boston.

Growing Strong
With the company growing at a steady 15-20% rate each year, Michael maintained a commitment to “smart growth.” The seeds of a strong company culture were planted and nourished as the company expanded and thrived. Promotion of experienced managers from within, innovative training methods, and an atmosphere of family and camaraderie all helped maintain the small-company, hands-on feel that Michael knew was his key to success.

And while the roots of the company were based in valet parking and a reputation for superior customer service, over the years Sunset transformed into a full service parking management firm offering valet parking, commercial garage and surface parking lot management services to clients in a variety of industries and market segments throughout Southern California.

Back to the Future
While Michael was building Sunset on the West Coast, Alan and Jeff were doing the same back East by merging the 2 operations to form LAZ parking. While LAZ had achieved steady growth through the years, it emerged on the national parking scene when Morgan Stanley selected the company to operate the lease on its four-garage, 9,200 space complex in Millenium Park, Chicago. This in turn caught the attention of French parking company Vinci Park, which was looking to break into the US parking market. Vinci and LAZ became partners in 2008, providing LAZ with the resources to pursue a strategic expansion plan.

In 2008, as part of this national expansion strategy, Sunset joined LAZ through a strategic merger. Alan, Jeff and Michael, the three best friends had come full circle, together again, working as full-time partners.

Three Friends, One Philosophy
As a key component of the LAZ Parking family, Sunset maintains its unique brand identity and the culture and values that brought it success:

• Your company is only as good as the people in it
• Promote from within
• Keep it like family
• Mentor, coach and train

This philosophy is also shared by Alan and Jeff, forming the heart of LAZ Parking and drives its success as it becomes the premiere parking services organization in the nation:

• 1000+ parking facilities
• 20 states
• 95 cities
• 330,000 + parking spaces
• 4,500 employees
• $325+ million in parking receipts