Trolleys

[steddenm]

Before they'd have took one them home with them every week and dumped it in a stream, making a mess of the nation and costing the supermarkets hundreds of thousands each year.

DAILY MAIL ALERT

[Gavin Scott]

Well I can't fault your research, but your conclusions may be awry, chie.

*If* there was a real health and safety implication, and a resultant case for a lawsuit thereafter, the magnetic lock device would never have come into effect - starting, as it did, in the USA - the most litigious place on earth.

EDIT: Before you point out that the UK patent was granted to a UK company in 2002 - they were in use in Wal-Mart in Florida as far back as 1999.

[Chie]

EDIT: Before you point out that the UK patent was granted to a UK company in 2002 - they were in use in Wal-Mart in Florida as far back as 1999.

That would've been the electronic radio wave system which was patented in the US in 1998. I would argue it differs in respect of injury claims because the locking mechanism is prominently located on the exterior of the wheel, meaning people can actually see it. The stores probably have prominent warning signs displayed around the perimeter too, whereas Asda have one little sideways-facing sign hidden in the shrubs.

Sorry for being so contrary.

[Ebeneezer Scrooge]

(10,000 trolleys x £80 per trolley) / 5322 supermarkets = £150.32

Data sources:
DEFRA (2007). Guidance on the Management of Shopping Trolleys.
The Institute of Grocery Distribution (2007). UK Grocery Retailing Store Numbers & Sector Value.

Or as I found it -

Defra (Department for Food and Rural Affairs) estimated in 2007 that at least 10,000 supermarket trolleys are stolen every year in England. The cost of replacing each trolley is, apparently, an amazing £80-£250, so that amounts to an annual cost to supermarkets of somewhere between £800,000 and £2,500,000.

So the cost to supermarkets is more than thousands of pounds per year, the cost to stores being far less. Sorry to be a pedant

[marksi]

Good heavens, how can Tesco possibly afford that?

[m-in-m]

Another health and safety hazard may be caused by trolleys which are rendered immobile at limited exit points around the store. In particular, they pose a large obstacle for wheelchair users. The paths on which the magnets are sited around my supermarket are about four feet in width - if there's an immobilised trolley in the middle of the path, then no wheelchair user will get past it. The magnets are located 400 feet (according to Google Earth) from the front doors of the supermarket, so it's impossible for staff to continually monitor the area and collect immobilised trolleys all the time. They could place two bollards at the end of the car park instead, which would allow wheelchairs to pass freely, but not shopping trolleys.

I confess I am not an expert on wheelchairs - but aren't many wheelchairs, particularly motorised wheelchairs, wider than a trolley. Wouldn't that therefore defeat the object of the bollards.

[Alexia]

Sadly, Alexia's nonsensical ramblings will never be fully understood.

By you maybe. But then you saw sense in Mr Q's nonsensical brand of Dalek logic, so one can hardly expect any better.

Oh and Chie, I used capitals as emphasis. Look slightly to the right and you'll see the word used in context.

That is all.

[Sput]

Sadly, Alexia's nonsensical ramblings will never be fully understood.

By you maybe. But then you saw sense in Mr Q's nonsensical brand of Dalek logic, so one can hardly expect any better.

Oh and Chie, I used capitals as emphasis. Look slightly to the right and you'll see the word used in context.

That is all.

I sincerely apologise Alexia. I was too flippant for the thread. I did not appreciate that the subject of trolleys must be approached with resolve and sincerity.

[Alexia]

Sadly, Alexia's nonsensical ramblings will never be fully understood.

By you maybe. But then you saw sense in Mr Q's nonsensical brand of Dalek logic, so one can hardly expect any better.

Oh and Chie, I used capitals as emphasis. Look slightly to the right and you'll see the word used in context.

That is all.

I sincerely apologise Alexia. I was too flippant for the thread. I did not appreciate that the subject of trolleys must be approached with resolve and sincerity.

Well absolutely. I mean, imagine where we would be WITHOUT wire trolleys? We'd spend less money in one go as our baskets would become heavier and heavier....either that or we would all become a nation of Ocado-ers.

[TG]

...become a nation of Ocado-ers.

(tesco.com guy splutters...)

[Chie]

Or as I found it -

Defra (Department for Food and Rural Affairs) estimated in 2007 that at least 10,000 supermarket trolleys are stolen every year in England. The cost of replacing each trolley is, apparently, an amazing £80-£250, so that amounts to an annual cost to supermarkets of somewhere between £800,000 and £2,500,000.

So the cost to supermarkets is more than thousands of pounds per year, the cost to stores being far less. Sorry to be a pedant

That is a quote from a blog and not what it says in the actual document published by DEFRA:

http://www.rbm-toolbox.net/toolbox3/att ... olleys.pdf