Imagine a world where shopping carts are a novelty, met with skepticism and disdain. Uncover the surprising history of these now-ubiquitous tools, from their controversial debut to their eventual acceptance in the realm of retail.
The Story of Shopping Carts
The birth of shopping carts in the early 20th century ushered in an era of mass consumption and enabled grocery stores to expand their products wit**ut customers worrying about **w they would get stuff to their car
- Carts also spurred the rise of impulse buying
- But early on, customers were wary of the carts
Leaving the store
Seatbelts were added to the child seats in the 1960s, alt**ugh that hasn’t prevented thousands of shopping cart accidents involving children each year.
- The biggest development for shopping carts in later decades was **w they wound up outside of stores, leading lawmakers to start imposing regulations and fines on businesses whose carts strayed from their stores.
The arrival of supermarkets
Self-service supermarkets first developed by Piggly Wiggly in Memphis in 1916 allowed shoppers to pick items off shelves themselves
- As more Americans started driving cars, larger supermarkets with parking lots began opening in new suburbs
- Despite shoppers having cars with trunks and refrigerators at ***e, they still carried baskets
A folding chair on wheels
In 1936, Samuel Goldman came up with an idea for a rolling cart – he attached wheels to a folding chair and put a basket on top.
- He believed that offering shoppers a cart would lead them to buy more, increasing sales for the company.
- He soon started selling carts to other supermarkets for $6 or $7.
- Store managers at first were reluctant to buy the carts because they worried children would damage them or get into accidents. Goldman alla*** these concerns by making promotional films demonstrating the proper way to use the carts.
