Who Invented the Shopping Cart?
Datetime:2013-05-20 Hits:
Who Invented the Shopping Cart?
Sylvan Nathan Goldman (1898 to 1984) invented the shopping cart. Goldman was an entrepreneur and the owner of a retail grocery chain of stores, the Standard Food Stores. His vision was twofold: to ease the heavy load that shoppers had to carry by hand in wicker or wire baskets, and to increase sales because shoppers would be inclined to buy more.
History
Several accounts report that the concept of a shopping cart came to Goldman as he worked late one night in 1936. Two folding chairs apparently sparked the idea of stacking two parallel chair seats sufficiently far apart so they could hold shoppers' baskets. He would add wheels to the chair legs, and adapt the chair back as a handle for pushing.
Significance
Goldman tapped Fred Young, a mechanic, to produce the actual shopping cart prototype. The original concept envisaged a folding basket carrier. The two men worked closely together for months to create the prototype.
Advertising Ploy
On June 4, 1937, Goldman ran cryptic advertisements to say that basket juggling was a thing of the past at the Standard Food Stores, and extolling the virtues of his innovation without actually naming the basket carrier. The plan was to draw customers to the stores to see for themselves.
Unexpected Result
Unexpectedly, most shoppers, with the exception of elderly shoppers, spurned the basket carriers. Apparently women likened them to baby carriages while men felt they were strong enough to manage shopping baskets without the carriers.
Successful Solution
Goldman's solution was simple. He hired women and men of different ages to push the basket carriers round the stores filled with merchandise. When other customers saw this, they did the same, and the basket carriers were an "overnight" hit.
Outcome
By the end of 1937, Goldman started to manufacture his folding basket carriers, and by 1940, he had a 7-year waiting list for them. Goldman went on to produce the nest shopping cart, the predecessor of today's standard.
