An object made of lightweight plastic, easy to hold, and lots of people walk around with them so a thief on its way out the door won’t attact undue attention, is not the same encumbrace as a bag of dog food (heavy, awkward, and noticeable.)
Just because they’re NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE STORE doesn’t mean that people aren’t going to be naughty and TAKE THEM OUT OF THE STORE. Shopping carts AREN’T ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE PARKING LOT but that doesn’t stop people from taking off with them. Merchandise that’s not paid for ISN’T ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE STORE EITHER but you can’t deny that shoplifting happens.
Also, security tags are a joke. I used to work at a store and we’d find the damn things popped off and stashed in odd corners everywhere, or else the thief would just take the item, security tag and all, to remove at their leisure. Yes, the door alarm will go off (unless it malfunctions, as it ofted did at the store I worked at) but all the thief has to do is run like hell. In fact the store I worked at tried having shopping bags (see-through mesh so in theory you could keep an eye on what people put in them) and put security sensors on them; people would just load them up with stuff and walk right out.
Granted, it wouldn’t surprise me to find out Wally World likes to fuck its customer base with a saguaro and make them beg for more, but it’s a bit :dubious: to claim theft can’t possibly be a part of it.
BTW I heard about the basket theft from a guy I know who manages a Rite Aid in a town with a large population of both college students and people below poverty level.
The point is, the hand basket should be no more or less protected from theft than any other similarly sized merchandise they sell. Instead of dog food, think big plastic tub, small trash can, pillow, whatever can’t go out the door without being rung up and paid for.
The blue baskets aren’t allowed out. Paid for trash cans are. It should be EASIER to stop the loss of these baskets, as they’re NEVER allowed out the door, they can’t be concealed, so if someone is walking out the door with one, they should be intercepted. How do they keep ANYTHING from being shoplifted? They keep an eye on things.
You’re basically saying, they’ll stop you for stealing make-up, cd’s, and any other merchandise, but they’ll give a pass to something big and blue that’s walking out the door.
That’s not what I’m saying. I can’t tell you how many times those alarm strips would go off a shift. It was ridiculous. No one cared, either. Wal-Mart has a specific department for protecting against theft called ‘asset protection’. If they see you stealing, they are authorized to stop you. If, however, a cashier sees you stealing, the only thing they are told to do is tell a manager, who then has tell the asset protection team. You’d be surprised how much is stolen from large department stores. For instance, when I worked in the electronics department, we used to display Xbox/PS3 games that were in the 20-30 dollar price range outside of the glass case new games are displayed in. Literally about 40% of the inventory was lifted from the shelves. Shrinkage is a HUGE problem in retail, especially in large stores like Wal-Mart.
Wheelchair users could bring a hand basket. <deleted snarky comment about crippling effects of being crippled deleted here, but snarkiness intention remaining by this note,>
ninj’ad. they took out baskets 2 years ago so I grab a large bucket and use it then don’t buy it. Fot a while I alsp made a point of how small delicate expensive items easily fall out of carts by slipping through bars (things like eyeshadow, etc) and smash all to pieces. didn’t happen in my basket. I’ve pointedly explained the bucket thing to a lot of people(its a small town ppl ask why you using bucket?) it’s funny how many buckets now sit on the “take back” shelf in customer service.
now I love my kroger. they have baskets, carts and halfsize carts
I love those half carts tgey are perfect for elderly or disabled people who don’t like the crip carts and get tired struggling with full size carts and I imagine they are handy for childfree single people too
If I’m only after a few items, I often do basically the same thing at Trader Joe’s, only I use my own shopping bags. Those handheld shopping baskets are awkward and uncomfortable to carry anyway.
I’ve never gotteen a funny look, but they do know me there.
I’m wondering if Wal-Mart’s notorious parsimony is to blame. Perhaps the stores have to cover the cost of lost handbaskets themselves and have decided that they just aren’t worth replacing.
I never use the wheeled carts at my local Wal-Mart, because they’re metallic and they evidently build up a static charge while I’m pushing them. I’m not kidding. I’m constantly getting shocks from those carts, even if I keep my hands on the plastic-covered handle.
I saw several mentions of the “greeters”, but it made the news not that long ago that Walmart was eliminating greeters. They certainly did at my local store.
When I shop at my store, there are never employees near the entrance/exit anymore. I often see one of the guys who used to be a greeter just, like, hanging out a little more into the store’s interior. Now instead of greeting customers, they pay him to stand behind a display of potato chips… or something.
When I use the self-checkouts, they often have an employee looking in customer carts and making sure they really have fewer than 20 items. There are 8 self-checkouts split into 2 groups of 4, one group near each entrance. Typically one is fully working. The last time, there was not a single self-checkout that was fully operational as far as allowing all forms of payment. Of the 4 in the group I used, 2 were off completely. Then 1 was cash-only, and 1 was cards-only.
Eliminating the hand baskets does not make me spend more by filling a cart. As mentioned, it’s impossible to use a cart in Walmart unless one has all day to hang out there and go for a stroll. Sometimes it’s difficult to push a cart around in stores that have 4x the aisle space as Walmart. Not having baskets means that instead of filling a basket, I will fill my hands.
As far as other stores go, I shop at other stores with clientele not that different than Walmart. Grocery stores with a lot of food stamps users, Target, and so on. They all have many baskets and don’t seem to have an issue. Most of the stores manage to have 2-3 different cart sizes and hand baskets.
My supermarket still has hand-helds and I use them, because I am legally blind and I am a menace pushing one of those huge carts around the store. I also buy less than about 12 pounds of groceries at each shopping trip, because I don’t drive and have to carry them home on foot.
This is just another example of how our Americans with Disabilities Act completely ignores most of the requirements of people who are disabled, and basically just does window dressing. Putting the “Men” sign in Braille on the bathroom door does not satisfy all the requirements of making a store blind-accessible. I hold the record at my store, for kicking a Wet-floor pylon from aisle 4 to aisle 7.
Same here in the Worceste Massachusetts area. No baskets, I being told they are all being stolen hmmm from all the Walmarts in the local area hmmm funny there not stolen from local grocery stores CVS, Walgreens just Walmart ha" who ate the kidding they know if you are pushing a shopping cart you are much more likely to purchase more. that the bottom line. I just take a cloth bag from the register fill it dump it when I am done and then leave it. Like Walmart cant afford to purchase hand baskets …
