Simple Saturday: Italian Grocery Shopping Adventure

I have not made a “Simple Saturday” post in quite a while! After 4 years of absolutely ZERO travel (not even a mini getaway), I finally decided to take some much needed time away from life. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit Italy and take a Cruise all within a matter of months. (Read more about my Italian Halloween here.)

Awe…. At last…. It was glorious and I am so lucky to have some amazing contributors to hold down the C4U Fort while I was gone!

Today I thought I would share with you an interesting grocery cart concept I saw while in Italy. The first thing you notice when you pull up to a major grocery store (many of which are located inside Malls), are the neat rows of shopping carts. These carts are at many European grocery stores and, our Facebook fans are reporting they have made it to many eastern States of the US.

(photo credits: TheLifeOfBon.com – ShepardsOfFindingDignity.com)

At first glance, it looks as if the store just opened. This however is exactly where each shopper puts them. Yes, a dream come true, no carts rolling aimlessly towards your car or stuck in between cars so closely that you can't get out.

Now, I'm going to admit, I'm pretty good about returning my cart to the cart return, on a scale of 10, I'd give myself an 8. However, people that leave their carts with the freedom to roam, are not one of my personal pet peeves. I would challenge anyone that says they have never left their cart in the lot a time or two. Italians, however, would not consider propping the wheels up on the curb, in an attempt at a polite gesture. Oh no, they methodically put each cart back right where it belongs and, so would you.

Why?.. Would be the first thing any self respecting American would ask is this so? And then it hits you, as you are trying, with no avail, to remove your cart from the perfect rows, each cart, is chained to the next and it takes a Euro to release it from it's, chain gang style prison.

Frugal friends, that's not a dime or even a quarter in US money. As I write this today (2/15/2014), that's $1.37 in US dollars. The cart holds your Euro hostage, when you return the cart to it's rightful place, the coin is released.

Italians, in general, are quite polite. If fact, there were times I watched some interaction with other Americans that left me embarrassed at the behavior (but that's another story). The Italians don't complain about the cart coins. It's not a big news story, people don't break the chains or boycott the stores. They simply return their carts without a second thought.

Which leads me to the question of the day, what if your favorite grocery store adopted this cart return policy? We all want that cart away from the potential of dinging our cars, the store would be able cut the cost of cart runners, there would be less injury to employees and potentially to shoppers too. In reality it's a great idea right?…

I personally kinda like this idea, especially if it keeps costs down. What about you? If your favorite grocer adopted these carts, would you choose to shop at the store that did not require the deposit instead?

Happy Saturday.

You can read more of these random “Weekend” postings here.

Posted by Joani