Trader Joe's, We're Begging You For This Shopping Cart Change

Trader Joe's comes in clutch with unique frozen entrees and snacks your kids will love, all at an affordable grocery price point. However, the shopping experience comes at a hidden cost outside the monetary realm. In order to get your hands on good food for a good deal, you must be ready to endure one of the most obnoxious shopping environments out there. It's part of Trader Joe's business model to keep store layouts small and located in high-traffic areas. When a grocery store is this crowded, every bit of space matters — and there's a roadblock messing with the foot traffic.

You've seen them before: the miniature shopping carts forged from steel and wielded by tiny tyrants of the aisles. It's adorable when children push these mini-carts around, but it's less adorable when they're causing a traffic jam in the middle of the bustling frozen section. These unlicensed drivers aren't governed by law, only glee and hubris as they push their tibia-wrecking contraptions with the urgency of an unemployed tortoise.

Melodrama aside, the cute little shopping carts are a fun way of entertaining young shoppers, but they're not logistically efficient. The mini carts don't fit with the full-sized ones, making it more difficult for employees to track them down and push them back in place together. There might be better ways to improve the shopping experience for everyone while getting busy caregivers in and out of the store in a way that suits their schedule.

Trader Joe's encourages the use of reusable shopping bags and nearly anything can work as one. A costume purse, Halloween basket, or beach bucket can give kids something to put groceries inside (with supervision), and it's something they can take home as their own every time that then may make future grocery shopping trips more exciting. If they get bored carrying it, then back into the big shopping cart it goes.

Another way kids can keep themselves entertained is by doing the in-store scavenger hunt. One of Trader Joe's fun secrets is that there's a built-in adventure where each store has a hidden stuffed animal that kids can search for while you shop. There will be a "missing" poster at the front of the store to clue them in on which furry friend they'll find.

It's possible for people of all ages to get overstimulated while grocery shopping, especially when you've had to battle for a parking spot or squeeze your way past a bunch of people in every aisle. A tiny shopping cart doesn't need to become another vehicle of frustration. By leaving wheeled objects in the hands of responsible drivers and offering alternative solutions for pampered passengers, a more wholesome Trader Joe's store environment is possible.