A Flatbed Passed Me In Aisle 9. I Let It.

I read that Costco has passed Kroger in grocery share, and I want to say something on behalf of every regular four-wheel cart in this country, which is that we saw it coming. We saw it in the parking lot. It was four feet wide and carrying a kayak.

The flatbed is not a cart. I have said this at meetings. A cart has a basket, a child seat and a sense of proportion. A flatbed has a platform and an attitude. You do not shop with a flatbed. You haul. And Americans, it turns out, would rather haul once than shop four times.

I do not blame the shoppers. Prices are up. If I had hands, I would buy 40 pounds of rice too. I blame the logic of the flatbed, which holds that if you have room for one of a thing, you have room for two.

• A year of paper towels 38%
• A pallet of water 27%
• A TV nobody measured 14%
• Items on the list 12%
• A kayak 9%

What Goes On A Flatbed

A year of paper towels	38%
A pallet of water	27%
A TV nobody measured	14%
Items on the list	12%
A kayak	9%

Source: Wendell Wheelwright's parking lot notes, taken while wobbling slightly to the left

I remain in the corral by the cart return, leaning slightly to the left, which is, I am told, where the value is.

Meanwhile my front-left caster still wobbles. It costs about $4. This week the waiting list added a flatbed above me, "in recognition of market share." I have been on the list since February. The flatbed has been in this state since lunch.

I will say this for Kroger. Its carts are good carts. Honest carts. They fit down an aisle without asking everyone else to step aside. That counts for something, even at 8.2%.

I remain in the corral by the cart return, leaning slightly to the left, which is, I am told, where the value is.

Mr. Wheelwright is a 34-gallon steel shopping cart at a supermarket in Tulsa, Okla. He has opinions about wheels. More from Wendell Wheelwright ›

More on Costco · Kroger · Numerator · Walmart