Columnist Muriel Stevens: Maddened by a dearth of carts

Wednesday, July 24, 2002 | 8:27 a.m.

What's to be done about the increasing problem of shopping cart theft? Without carts it's getting to be a hassle to shop at a number of my neighborhood stores, especially Walgreens.

On three different occasions, with my shopping list in hand, I was able to purchase only a few things. There were no shopping carts inside or outside the store, and those small baskets are hardly a substitute for a cart when a shopping list includes bulky items.

When I spoke to Steve Gerstein, the store manager at my neighborhood Walgreens, it became clear that there is no easy solution to the problem since the carts disappear as quickly as they're replaced.

The time has come to address this problem for what it is -- theft. I recognize that not everyone has access to transportation, but if you "borrow" a cart, when it's needed and then make no attempt to return it, it becomes stolen property.

I've spoken at length with store managers and they all have the same response: There are no easy answers. Make a suggestion, such as putting alarms on carts to alert the store if they're being removed from the parking area, and you're told they've already tried that and it didn't work.

What else have they tried? Putting two of the wheels on hold so it's more difficult to push, but that didn't work because the crooks tilted the cart and wheeled it away on the two wheels that rolled. There have been other attempts at thwarting the cart-nappers, but nothing, so far, has made a dent in the number of carts pilfered every month.

There is a big black market for the all-metal carts in some of our neighboring countries. According to those who know about such things, cart sweeps are made here regularly. The carts are taken across the border where they are crushed and sold for scrap. With so many carts missing, it must be a lucrative business.

So, what about ordering plastic carts that have (as far as I know) no value for scrap? Some months ago the Vons market on Desert Inn Road replaced the few metal carts it had left with handsome, oversized gray-and-red plastic carts. After just one week all of the new carts were gone!

Getting new carts is also a problem. Gerstein said that he's still awaiting delivery of the carts he ordered more than a month ago. Cart manufacturers simply cannot keep up with the demand. Gerstein managed to borrow a few carts from another Walgreens store. Only time will tell if he still has them to return when his new carts arrive.

The life of a shopping cart, assuming it isn't crushed for scrap, is approximately seven years. Ours never even get old enough to creak.

Maybe we should try a new approach to getting carts returned. Maybe the "borrowers" need an incentive to encourage them to return the carts to the rightful owners.

Maybe a "no questions asked" returned cart could be worth a small reward. Does $5 sound reasonable? I agree that no one should be rewarded for returning something that isn't theirs, but a new cart costs much more. With a reward offered, maybe teens and others will be encouraged to return the carts that they find in their neighborhoods. One can only hope.