Of course you want to park right outside the door to the department store. Most people do — and plenty of them beat you there and plan to shop all day, says Roy Nielsen, traffic coordinator for the 13,000 spaces at the Mall of America, in Rochester, Minnesota. At a strip mall, look for spots outside shops where people are in and out, like the post office or a dry cleaner. A growing trend at stores and malls is having designated “stork” parking for pregnant women, next to handicapped spots, and wider spaces for parents with strollers. With respect to safety, most car thefts take place where criminals know you’re parked for a while, like outside a movie theater. To make your car less of a cinch for a crook, don’t back into a spot. Carjackings, though rare, tend to occur in parking lots “almost always as you’re entering the driver’s door,” says Chris McGoey of McGoey Security Consulting, in Los Angeles. For extra safety, “park in heavily trafficked areas, under a light, and stay alert,” he says. Or ask the store if it can give you a security escort.