Loading...After you’ve walked up and down the aisles of your local store, stood in line at the checkout, and the finally make it back to your car… do you ever return your shopping cart to a cart return, or back inside the store? Meet the baby that does!
Baby Esme Poglein sure knows how to return the shopping cart, right? This video was given to me by the Poglein family to share.
One of the earliest designs for a shopping cart was created by Sylvan Goldman, the owner of the Piggly Wiggly supermarket chain in 1937. He was looking for a way to entice shoppers to buy more groceries and got inspiration from a folding chair in his office. After tinkering with his design, he was issued a patent from the federal government for his invention in 1940.
Shopping carts were not popular when they were first introduced. Men found them effeminate and women found them similar to pushing baby carriages. Goldman had to hire men and women models to demonstrate and greeters to push for their use. Americans quickly fell in love with the carts.
In 1946, American inventor Orla Watson came up with a way to nest the carts together for easy storage that we use today. After scoring a patent of his own, Goldman was forced to pay Watson $1, after filing a patent for a redesign that was too similar to Watson’s. Goldman also worked out a licensing right to allow for the modifications of his design and the mass production of modern shopping carts was on!
While most stores in the United States, offer cart return facilities in the parking lot, many customers choose just to abandon theirs right where they park, and leave. While this is not illegal, it can lead to accidental dents and scratches to cars, when a driver accidentally hits or brushes up against one.
In Canada and Europe, to encourage customers to return carts to the store, they must place a coin deposit to remove one and get their coin back when the cart is properly return. Most Aldi supermarket store locations in the US as well as a few Costco warehouse stores, use this system. In Australia, it’s the law.
Later shopping cart designs feature a small basket toward the rear that can be used to store small items, or for mothers to place small children where they can be supervised while shopping. However, 24,000 children are injured by carts each year. To improve child safely, many stores now offer special “kid carts” where the child can be placed in a special set under the cart that is lower to the ground.
In the past few years, Sears department stores have introduced shopping carts and check out lines for customers, which the company says has led to an increase in sales.
An abandoned shopping cart.
While shopping cart designs haven’t changed much in the last 50 years, Target stores have introduced a completely plastic cart, that not only makes it easier for the store to repair and replace parts, but it also won them multiple design awards for innovation.
Depending on where you are, shopping carts can be called a shopping trolley, shopping carriage, wagon, lunga, barrae, or shopping buggy.
A typical cart costs a store $75 – $400, depending on the model. Remember that, the next time you see one abandoned along the road!
THE 411
Name: shopping carts
What: carts designed to allow shoppers to carry large quantities of goods around the store and to their cars
Introduced: 1937
JERSEY JOE RECOMMENDS:
It drives me nuts seeing tons of abandoned shopping carts littering store parking lots. My vehicle has been hit and scratched by them again and again. Stores provide cart returns for a reason. Be polite to your fellow shoppers and use them! If Baby Esme can return her cart, I think we all can, too!
Image credits – Sharon Drummond, malavoda, Chris Orbz, Lis Bokt
