The first ever shopping cart was invented in 1936 by Sylvan Goldman. Sylvan was the owner of a chain of grocery stores in Oklahoma, called Standard/Piggly-Wiggly. The first cart was constructed by adding two wire baskets and wheels to a folding chair. With the help of Fred Young, he designed a sellable version in 1947. The two retail pioneers formed the Folding Carrier Co., which manufactured the carts.
But these two entrepreneurs were not alone in their innovations.
Orla Watson of Kansas City, Missouri, in 1946, invented the telescoping shopping cart. This version was created by using hinged baskets which folded. Each shopping cart fitted into the shopping cart ahead, making for extremely compact storage. The telescoping shopping carts were premiered at Floyd Day’s Super Market in 1947, and they have long been a favorite of mine.
The Silicon Valley inventor, George Cokely – the guy who invented the Pet Rock – came up with a solution to one of the supermarket industry’s most major problems since the 40′s – the stolen shopping cart question.
What Cokely came up with is called the Stop Z-Cart. The wheels of the cart hold a device which contains a chip and some electronics. When the cart is rolled away from the store, a certain distance, the store managers will know about it.
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