How did I not know this!

Gregor Samsa · 10-01-2022 11:40am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445830#Comment_118445830

Back in the 80s, before the coin deposit system, the Superquinn in Northside Shopping Center had a big problem with the locals using the trolleys to walk their shopping home, and then they'd just leave them abandoned on the roads and footpaths. So Superquinn bought in a £20 deposit system. There was a woman at a desk beside the trolleys, and you'd have to hand over your 20 quid to her, and she'd let you take a trolley. She didn't keep records of your name or anything, so anyone who brought back a trolley belonging to the shop would get 20 quid from her.

This meant that you had to guard your trolley with your life in the supermarket. If you didn't, some miscreant would be liable to swipe it, dump the contents, and make themselves a handy score.

Also, the locals around places like Bunratty Road still wanted to walk home with their shopping, but didn't want to carry it. So they continued to use the trolleys to bring it home. Only they didn't want to walk back with the empty trolley to get their 20 quid - a significant amount of money - back. So they started keeping the valuable trolleys in their gardens - chained with bicycle locks to their fences. Basically the attitude was that if you paid 20 quid for one, you owned it, and loads of houses around there had their own personal shopping trolley as a result.