Picking up Baskets


I have something to say about grocery stores. I know I shouldn’t complain because grocery stores really are fabulous. Any store that sells 50 different flavors of ice cream really should be held in the highest esteem.

But I have to ask… why don’t more grocery stores stack shopping baskets at the back of the store? They’re always at the front and I have to constantly go hunt for them.

Here’s my typical shopping experience:

I walk in, I think to myself: “What did I need again? Why am I here? I’m sure I am going to forget something.”

Before I’m even 15 feet into the store I’m forgetting things. And that includes picking up a shopping basket. And the grocery stores always stack them in the front. I’m at the back of the store before I remember.

I think to myself: “I’m sure they have a stack of baskets here somewhere.” And I walk through the back isle looking around. But no, they don’t. They only stack them at the front. Why is this? Wouldn’t it be smart to have baskets near the back of the store, too? Maybe there is some smart reason, can anyone shed light on this?


6 responses to “Picking up Baskets”

  1. Hmm. Yeah. You’re right; they should put baskets in the front. I think the CEOs of Wall-Mart, Safeway, and other such stores should reconsider their basket-placing policy 🙂

  2. I have the same problem every time I walk into any big store where I buy more than an armful of things.

    I think there should be stacks at the end of every other section or at least in the back somewhere.

  3. you have forgotten the classic example of, simply going in for one or two items and then you get greedy or they have a two for one offer on and before you know it your tiny arms are full and your heading back to the front of the store like a shoplifter to find a basket. this is my usual downfall.

  4. The same theory holds true that if you go in for a gallon of milk at Walmart, you must go to the back of the store for it. On the way back you pick up several items to the check out. Knowing this before hand… one gets a buggy before setting off on the journey. That is why clerks hide the small hand baskets. Managment refuse to install milk refidgeration units at the front.

  5. Has anyone read “Why We Buy” by Paco Underhill? I read it a few years ago. I can’t remember if he talks about this problem but maybe his book has an explanation.

  6. a. Never go to the grocery store without a list, respect the list.
    b. The baskets are always at the front of the store.
    c. Don’t look for baskets at the back of the store, they’re in the front of the store.

    Thinks to myself – “How did I get here? Why am I here?”

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