Local grocery store phasing out shopping baskets - whaaaat?

[Teacher Terry]

None of our stores have baskets anymore. If I just need a few items I carry them in my arms.

 

[aja8888]

FWIW, Costco shopping carts are the biggest I have ever seen! I have seen three small kids in one and still room for the groceries!

 

[mcdave]

that's what I did. bought my own. our local Aldi doesn't have them, only the rental carts and sometimes a basket is much handier esp if one does not want to also buy bags.

 

[steady saver]

That's interesting! I haven't noticed at my grocery store but then again I never use them. Even if I have a few products, I use a cart (and I usually have the option of a small one, which I appreciate. The baskets are uncomfortable to me. I always end up with more than the two or three things I go in for and they pull on my shoulder.

 

[steady saver]

We almost always proactively return our basket or shopping cart at every store that offers them before leaving the store. And we never leave shopping carts at random in parking lots - we either return them to a designated area (like Costco provides) or back to the store (like HT/Trader Joe's/Whole Foods). It's sad how lazy some people are...

I always take mine back too, even if it's raining. That said, I stopped automatically thinking others were being lazy when I had some health issues that made that extra step very difficult, esp when I didn't have the cart to lean on after returning it. I'd still return it to the stall if there was one but when there wasn't I put it as close to my car but out of the way as possible as long as it wasn't blocking anything. Makes taking a cart back now, when body is happy, an act of gratitude for good health.

 

[MC Rider]

If there is no hand basket, how am I supposed to go to hell?

Um, if there is no basket I will use my BYO shopping bag. If I need more stuff I get a cart.

 

[rprun54]

I can’t imagine why someone would want to seal the basket, but I guess if they do, there comes a point where the merchant say enough is enough. Our local stores all have baskets. The only problem I have is that no one brings them from the checkout area, where they end up after shopping, back to the door that you enter the store from. There’s a holder there, but it’s typically empty.

Thankfully, now I know enough to go in the other door and grab a basket from there.

Not my job

 

[savory]

I've noticed a couple of trends in grocery and similar stores.

The first is that they want to confuse you and make you spend more time in the store and the second is that they want you to have a bigger cart. They also don't want you to use your self brought bag to shop with.

I think the "spend more time in the store" trend is to get you to buy more. Maybe it works for some people. But after a 1 hour visit to a Walmart store today I've vowed to just get things shipped from walmart.com. So I'll be spending less time in their store here.

I think their theory is that if people spend more time searching the store they will buy more. I can't speak for others but I shop with a list and if I can't find what I am looking for I leave and buy elsewhere including online. This policy by both Walmart and Costco has driven me to buy more elsewhere. I also generally shop less at both stores anticipating this problem and deciding my time is just not worth saving a few dollars.

The smaller cart thing is also perplexing. If I have more than a few items I want a cashier so that drives up their labor costs.

Just for what it's worth, as a consumer product sales person in the late 70s, I was helping grocery stores reset their shelves all of the time. Getting consumers to spend more time is an approach that improves impulse purchasing. I am guessing the strategy was in place before my time.

 

[AbbA]

Interesting... I was told a different story a few months ago when I entered a local HT store to grab a backet only to find a lady sitting by the door to direct me to take a cart instead. So, I inquired her about those baskets because she was a consultant from the company that installed the monitoring devices.

She didn't say that they were phased out because of the theft. It's because anti-theft devices are not possible for the baskets. I was told that the theft of groceries has drastically increased over the years. So to supposedly prevent and diminish chances of theft, grocery stores have to install wheel locks. When people push the shopping cart with unscanned products the wheels will lockup just before you exit the first sliding doors. I'm not sure if it really works when thieves are really interested in stealing because this lady was sitting by the door, but once her gig was up I don't think store managers will have manpower to get to each locked cart. So, that's the story I heard.

 

[EvanC]

No baskets at my local ShopRite
Bought my two items and left. The next time I used my canvas shopping bag that my local County makes me bring with me, to save a nickel on their bags.
The world keeps changing and I’ll keep changing with it,even when it’s silly and senseless
Retired 18 years and I still have it.
I’m a problem solver

My local Wegmans keeps doing major redesigns to keep us in the store longer. I work from a list and I find it incredibly rude and frustrating as I age to make me hunt for items
This practice may work on some, but eventually, I will become frustrated and order everything online even paying a little more.

If it makes my life easier, count me in.
By the way, I love this forum and it’s members they help me to make my life easier

 

[Beldar]

When people push the shopping cart with unscanned products the wheels will lockup just before you exit the first sliding doors.

This happened to us a few days ago. Everything was scanned & paid for, but just as we exited the store the alarms went off & the cart wheels locked up. Some store employee raced up and held what looked like a giant cell phone next to the wheels & released the lock.

_B

 

[CaptTom]

All this talk of retail store anti-theft measures got me thinking...

If I ever decide to move, before I settle on one area to start house hunting, I'm going to visit the local big-box stores. If there are any of these things in place, I'll look for another region.

We have very little of that around here. I guess you don't appreciate what you have until you see how things are in other places.

 

[imjustawarrior]

Our Walmart has not had hand baskets for years.

My state outlawed plastic bags, so one has to bring his own bags or pay a high tax to get a paper bag. Most people bring totes. I use the tote since most stores don't have hand baskets around here.

We are so happy when we travel and go to a store that actually rings up your groceries and bag them. Amazing concept.

 

[Music Lover]

It used to be that every time I went to grab a basket it was sticky with who knows what, so now I just use my tote bags.

I probably wouldn't notice if they disappeared.

 

[EarlyandLate]

N

My local Wegmans keeps doing major redesigns to keep us in the store longer. I work from a list and I find it incredibly rude and frustrating as I age to make me hunt for items
This practice may work on some, but eventually, I will become frustrated and order everything online even paying a little more

This makes you wonder why they have not gone to the IKEA model to make you walk through every aisle in order to get out!
My local Walmart did away with the hand baskets years ago. In my area, there are huge ethnic and international supermarkets. They have stacks and heaps of carts and hand baskets, even little rolling baskets the size of a carry on suitcase. Never a problem to find what you need there.

 

[MC Rider]

This makes you wonder why they have not gone to the IKEA model to make you walk through every aisle in order to get out!

I went in IKEA once. We were almost ready to use an emergency exit when we found the entrance we came in. Never again will I darken IKEAs door. Ridiculous.

 

[MRG]

After the state outlawed plastic bags customers stole the hand baskets.

 

[disneysteve]

I’d much rather take a small cart than lug around a hand basket. Either that or if I’m just going for a few things I put them in my bag as I shop and then take them out at the register.

 

[Involuntary Retiree]

I’d much rather take a small cart than lug around a hand basket. Either that or if I’m just going for a few things I put them in my bag as I shop and then take them out at the register.

My primary grocery store, WinCo, only has only full-sized grocery carts. I would love to have access to either a hand basket or a small cart. Pretty sure that isn't going to happen since they did away with their hand baskets earlier this year, and WinCo has never had small grocery carts.

 

[Involuntary Retiree]

Honestly, if one checks out through the self-check line at WinCo, everyone's use of full-size carts makes maneuvering through the self-check lines really difficult

 

[Masquernom]

Yeah, our local Meijer was out of hand baskets for a while. They told me they had all been stolen. They finally got more back. I really don't know why anyone would want to steal those baskets. Not sure what they use them for.

 

[SecondAttempt]

I think this is going to turn out to be another lost experiment.

I used to do most of my shopping at Walmart and Costco. But they have made shopping so frustrating with their constant rearrangements that I've just started shopping at local stores more. I may pay a few $ more per trip but it's worth the time and frustration I save.

 

[kgtest]

I can’t imagine why someone would want to seal the basket, but I guess if they do, there comes a point where the merchant say enough is enough. Our local stores all have baskets. The only problem I have is that no one brings them from the checkout area, where they end up after shopping, back to the door that you enter the store from. There’s a holder there, but it’s typically empty.

Thankfully, now I know enough to go in the other door and grab a basket from there.

People will steal the darndest things. I was in McDonalds and saw someone walk in, use the restroom, grab a handful of mustard and ketchup and put it into their coat pocket and left.

 

[rpguy4]

Hand baskets are alive and well at Trader Joes.

 

[braumeister]

All the markets in my region still have plenty of hand baskets, and that's what I always use. Except for Costco, of course.

My local Kroger is less than a mile away, so I stop in at least a couple of times a week and just pick up a few things. Never even come close to filling the hand basket. If they ever discontinue them, I'll simply bring in my own canvas tote bag. We have a bunch of them, courtesy of the local public radio station!