Give away cheap grocery carts to solve cart clutter problem

The solution to Tacoma neighborhoods’ unsightly shopping cart buildup is right in front of the checkout line at Save-A-Lot Foods on the Hilltop.

That’s where store manager Joe Michael displays the fold-up rolling carts he sells for $19.99.

Michael knows why people steal his store’s big carts: They want to get their groceries home, and they can’t carry them all. They need wheels.

Some, of course, are just feckless knuckleheads who see nothing wrong with walking off with someone else’s $250 vehicle, ditching it, and repeating as needed.

But for the most part, the people who take carts don’t want to hurt his business. They don’t have cars. They may be frail or have kids in tow. They may have 10 blocks to walk with four sacks and a gallon of milk. Though he sells about six folding carts a week, he knows many customers who need them can’t afford them.

That has cost the business thousands.

When it opened five years ago, Save-A-Lot invested $13,000 in 75 refurbished carts.

“The first month we were here, we lost 42 carts,” Michael said.

He installed devices that lock a wheel when the cart’s taken off the property. He put identifying information on the carts. He has paid $5 for each cart returned by a recovery service. He and his meat manager pick up stolen carts when they see them. He allows people to borrow carts, provided they return them promptly.

With all that, Save-A-Lot has 22 working carts left.

Now there’s a proposal out there to penalize merchants whose carts are left lying around town.

Central Tacoma residents, frustrated by carts clogging sidewalks and lying in lots, asked City Councilman Ryan Mello to go after the businesses that own them.

Mello proposed an ordinance that would use fines to encourage merchants to use the methods Michael has employed for five years: marking the carts and posting signs that it’s illegal – duh – to steal them. It would set up a retrieval service that would charge $25 to $100 a cart. It would encourage locking mechanisms or a check-out system that returns a deposit when the cart’s put back.

It could cost retailers a bundle, but it would not address the cause of the problem. It would not give low-income people a way to get their groceries home without stealing carts.

Getting more of the $20 fold-up carts into the community would.

Instead of paying fines and investing in systems that haven’t worked, retailers would save money by giving folding carts to people who need them.

Every year, retailers lose hundreds of store carts, which cost from $75 to $275 each. They spend about $38 for the locking systems that doofuses can break in a couple of minutes. They pay retrievers $2 to $5 for every cart returned. They’re bleeding money, and, if the city resorts to fines, they could gush it.

They’d do better by setting up a fund to buy the folding carts – at a volume discount.

The carts would be given to customers who have a coupon for them.

Police officers, especially community liaison officers, would carry coupons to give to people they see pushing stolen carts. Bus drivers who see folks unloading the carts would have coupons to give. So would property managers who know who’s cluttering up the premises.

There’s a monetary and community savings there, too. Ignoring those thefts lowers community standards. Prosecuting them creates court costs and criminal records. Averting that for $20 a pop is good for everyone.

The system will need accountability built into it. It might be proof of low income and an online registry of recipients, with a limit to how many carts they can get. It might include a co-pay for the carts, for the sense of responsibility that comes with investment. It might include consequences for people caught stealing a big cart after they’ve gotten a little one.

As the number of people legally pulling their groceries home increases, merchants’ losses and neighborhood blight will decrease, and the bad actors will be obvious.

That happy day will be the right time to find and fine the scofflaws.

Kathleen Merryman: 253-597-8677 kathleen.merryman@thenewstribune.com