XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.books
From: gossg@gossg.org
"J. Clarke" wrote:
>FWIW, Aldi, which makes a great show of frugality (they rent you
>shopping carts for 25 cents for example to make sure you return them to
>the proper place thus saving them the cost of a cart collector) will
>take debit cards but not credit cards in the US, which suggests that
>debit fees are less than credit fees.
Almost all supermarkets require a deposit to unlock their carts.
I consider the size of that deposit to be an indicator of the wealth
of the community that the supermarket is set into.
Supermarkets in really rich communities still don't need deposits.
Medium-rich supermarkets want a quarter to unlock the cart. Poor to
middle-class supermarkets want (in my country) a dollar coin.
Supermarkets in really poor areas have the carts barricaded to the
area next to the entrance, and you have to bring your vehicle to the
cart.
The WalMart about six miles from me is in a poorer neighborhood than
where I live. It has electronic wheel locks that provide a similar
effect to that barricade. But I was surprised that the wheels lock up
if you take the cart into the rest of the mall instead of to your car.
There are two supermarkets close to me and one a little bit further.
One wants a buck, the further one wants a quarter, and the closest one
provides staff with DIFFERENT carts to take groceries to your car,
though they don't stop you from taking the "inside" carts to your car
if there's not a packer handy. No deposit at all on this one. The
area between me and the "free" supermarket is upper-middle. I don't
have a feel for the money class of the area on the other side of the
free one. The "buck" one and the quarter one are both near
lower-middle class neighborhoods.
--
We are geeks. Resistance is voltage over current.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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