What took me so long to write about something so simple? I wanted to get a picture of these suckers. Alas, I rarely take my camera to the grocery store so a random picture off the internet will have to do.
There it is in all its glory. In order to use a shopping cart, you need to have a 1 or 2 franc piece with you to unlock the trolley lock and release a cart from the other carts.
Simple yet awesome. No more carts walking away. No more carts hanging out in parking lots across the US. No more loose carts getting blown into cars.
I refuse to believe these suckers are not in use anywhere in the states. Unfortunately, I have yet to see them in the Baltimore area.
Let's get on this America!
***Picture borrowed from http://www.global-b2b-network.com/b2b/63/67/1175/287499/coin_operated_trolley_lock.html.
8 comments:
Aldi does this, though it is a European company. We have them here in western MD and Upstate NY. You also have to bring your own bags or buy theirs and pack your own groceries. They also do not take credit cards. Cash or debit cards only. I love it because I never have to worry about my car getting hit in the parking lot by a stray cart. We almost always run into a lovely little old lady who just hands me her cart and won't take my quarter. I always give my cart to someone fumbling in their purse or pocket for a quarter. I love the idea and wish more stores would do it! My grandmother has a coin from Migro that she paid for that works in the carts too, almost like a dummy coin but it is a token she paid once for. She finds it easier to keep track of.
Meg,
They have these in NJ near my Parents beach house at the Pathmark. You needed a quarter to use the carts
This is so great! I'm glad to hear they are in the US, I figured that might be the case. Now we just need to get them everywhere! Specifically at the grocery stores and Walmarts in the Baltimore area :-)
They are awesome and such a simple
logical idea.
You do get the coin back when you
return the carts... simple !
I'll bet a female thought this one up :)
Love and Hugs,
Grammie
Agree! I was really confused the first time I saw them in Germany. But it makes so much sense!
In the early 90's there was a store in Glen Burnie, MD - Leedmark that used the coin shopping carts. It worked well, but the store didn't - only lasted a couple of years.
I don't think the coin carts caused them to fail, I think Glen Burnie did that :-)
While a great idea, I wasn’t a fan upon my first face to face meeting with this system. Details are sketchy but rumor has it I got into a slober knocker with the whole rack of carts. Something about them being possessed by a demonic being bent on stealing Germany’s grocery carts.
On a side note, that was the last time I went grocery shopping after a jager binge.
Huh.....makes perfectly good sense. Kind of like at the airports.
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