Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 1, 1993 TAG: 9312010235
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight Ridder-Tribune
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium
But they're not being sold. They're being stolen.
Nearly 60 of the 200 child-size shopping carts have been taken in the two weeks the store has been open, said Alex Llorente, the store's manager.
"We knew we would lose some, but we didn't know we'd lose this many," he said.
All Super Kmarts nationwide furnish the little carts for children to push along the aisles as they accompany adults pushing regular-size carts, Llorente said. But, he said, the Tabb Super K has lost more kiddie carts than the others.
The timing of the York County store's opening - right before the holiday season - and the crowds of shoppers at the store may be the reasons for the unusually high losses, Llorente said.
The carts, which have "Kmart loves kids" printed on their handles, "have become souvenirs - they're collectibles," Llorente said. "Some will be wrapped up under Christmas trees."
Not all the lost kiddie carts fell victim to thieves, Llorente said. Some were crushed in the parking lot, apparently for sport by teen-agers in cars.
To hold down thefts, Kmart no longer will allow children to push the carts out of the store, said George Woodgate, who works the door greeting Kmart customers.
"They caught one man putting two in a pickup truck," he said. "It's mean of people to ruin it for the children."
The carts, which cost Kmart $42 each, appear popular with youngsters. Four-year-old Nicole Vitarelli, pushing a tiny cart full of groceries for her mother, said she would like Santa to bring her one for Christmas.
"I like putting stuff in," she said.
John Roberg, who will be 3 this week, brought along his plastic Little Tykes shopping cart from home the first time he and his mother, Shirley, shopped at Super K.
Now he prefers the metal Kmart cart, said his mother. "They look so real," she said.
Kmart will order more of the carts to replace the stolen ones, Llorente said. The manufacturer "is making them as fast as it can," gearing up for the opening of another 60 Super Kmarts next year, he said.
Despite the carts' popularity, Kmart has no plans to offer them for sale. Instead, it sells less realistic, plastic versions at $8.97 each.
by CNB