Cart Theft

The Kroger Co. (Cincinnati), the nation's largest supermarket organization, will be equipping 100 of its stores with an electronic system to keep grocery carts from being taken beyond store property.

When a cart pass above an underground electronic fence, its front wheels automatically lock up. And a metal plate prevents the cart from being pulled back onto its rear wheels.

“Shopping carts can cost $100 apiece,” said a Kroger spokesman, “and when you have a few carts stolen each week. that can quickly add up to a significant cost.” An industry estimate is that a shopping cart is “stolen” every 90 seconds, though the retailer is quick to point out that malicious theft is only part of the problem; as big a problem is people who walk off with the carts purely for their convenience, and then leave them at the side of the road, in parking lots, on other retailers'premises, on sidewalks and driveways, etc., rather than returning them to the store.

Kroger is using the cart-security system developed by Carttronics LLC (San Diego, Calif.). Other providers of such systems include Gatekeeper Systems (Irvine, Calif.) and Kart Saver Inc. (Sacramento, Calif.).