Retail officials lay out the cost of missing carts for local stores

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Shopping carts have been seen in and around Lexington, but not necessarily where they belong.

“Each of those carts, when they are stolen or taken off the lot from the retailers’ property, costs between $180 to $250 each,” said Steve McClain, Director of Communications and Public Affairs for the Kentucky Retail Federation. “Those costs eventually, sometimes, get passed on to the consumer to try to replace those.”

Past attempts at city ordinances to contain the carts have failed to be implemented. McClain said the regulations are often more of a burden on retailers than the missing carts.

“The things that were kind of proposed, like staff itself, would have to go get it themselves. Well, that’s taking people out of the stores to try to go stock the shelves or provide customer service,” said McClain.

When leaving the store with a cart, there are often places to put it when it is no longer needed. However, McClain attributes the convenience of leaving the cart near a parked car to contribute to carts being taken to where they do not belong.

“I just think some of it is people don’t think it’s that big of a deal. It’s a cart,” said McClain. “[They] may not realize just how much those carts cost, so they just push it and go.”

McClain said shoppers should be aware of the cost and the illegality of stealing shopping carts.

“Be aware that these do cost the retailers if you’re taking it off the parking lot. It is a cost, and it is a theft,” said McClain.

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