Originally published at: Safeway supermarket in San Francisco reports 160 shopping carts stolen in last month | Boing Boing
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I’m wondering if they had the anti-theft lockout devices all the local chains now use-- once the cart goes a certain distance from the store the wheels lock up, making it almost useless for homeless people and bottle deposit gleaners (plus an annoyance for anyone parked in an adjacent parking lot.) I’d assume they didn’t have this feature, but perhaps there’s a hack to unlock them.
When those devices first appeared I suspected any store that didn’t use them would begin noticing their carts stolen more often.
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I’d recommend starting from the “demand” side. See where they turn up, and why. Then prosecute for receiving stolen goods.
But I’m not a detective. I just have the eyesight of Columbo, the hairline of Kojak, and the anxiety of Monk.
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They have those in the little supermarkets in my apartment complex neighbourhood, mainly because residents are incredibly lazy, kids steal them and throw them off a nearby pedestrian path into the deep ditch, things like that. Some people figure the one euro deposit means they can use the cart to bring the groceries to their doorstep, and screw the deposit, let the cart block the bicycle rack or sit next to the trash room door til they need it again.
Yes, I have slobs for neighbours.
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We were just there a few days ago and couldn’t find any carts, now we know why.
Some folks in these comments were wondering if they had the ant-theft wheel locks, they do not. At least as far as I can remember. Cart thefts happen a bit, so we’ve seen Safeway carts abandoned near our apartment every now and then, but I wonder what is causing the sudden surge.
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I remember in high school someone brainstormed a prank where we would steal all the carts from the small local grocery chain, but then what do you do with them, hide them somewhere? And how were we supposed to roll down the street with a huge line of carts in the middle of the night without anyone noticing?
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Just a sign of the craziness that’s hit SF/Oakland lately…
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Oh the fun you can have an oscilloscope.
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The article doesn’t say they were all stolen at once. Given the recent explosion in the housing crisis I suspect most of those carts are probably carting homeless people’s stuff around the city right now.
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A thrift store near my old house had an interesting solution to cart theft: they bolted vertical pipes to the cart that were taller than the exit doors. Simple, and effective. I’m sure you could lay the cart down and drag it out on its back, but it stopped all the casual cart theft.
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I’m hearing quite a bit about the criminal element in California and sometimes I have to wonder whether this reflects reality, or whether this reality is shaped and molded by a right wing media campaign.
Obv, the solution lies in affordable housing and a living wage.
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Yes, that’s an old technique I’ve seen at lots of little stores with smallish carts and lightweight goods like clothes, but it doesn’t work so well at a major grocery store where customers of various ages and abilities might need to transport 4 or more fully-loaded bags of groceries to a car that’s way across a big parking lot.
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The internet has you covered:
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They need a cart to use when going to the walgreens:
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Trending on Pinterest: how to make a cargo bike out of a shopping cart and an old bike frame.
Cargo bikes (Dutch bikes) have become ridiculously expensive in Belgium.
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Desperate times in the Bay Area, it seems. And this is before the eviction moratorium has been lifted.
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