Tulsa Teams Up With Cart Repo To Tackle Abandoned Shopping Cart Problem

It’s easy to spot shopping carts abandoned around Tulsa.

Steven Younger says he sees them all the time at gas stations and under bridges.

“Since you see them so often, you probably don’t recognize that there are so many roaming out freely,” he said. 

The carts don’t just clutter streets, they represent lost resources for retailers.

“Retailers are losing these carts and they’re very expensive, so Cart Repo, we form the bridge where we collect carts for the city, we get them off the streets,” said Shantelle Muhammad.

That’s why the city of Tulsa connected with Muhammad’s company, Cart Repo, to explore solutions to this issue.

“Our process involves a daily roundup of carts, so we canvas the neighborhoods, we make connections in the neighborhood where people can report carts if they see them,” she said. 

Before the company was hired, the city collected abandoned shopping carts and held them in a city facility until they threw them away. 

Under this new program, Cart Repo will collect the carts and retailers will now have the option to buy them back at a lower cost compared to purchasing new ones.

Cart Repo says the success in Albuquerque, New Mexico, proves the model works. 

“In the first 2 months, we collected 2,000 shopping carts," said Muhammad. 

Management at Reasor’s saw that success and wanted it here. 

In a statement, Reasor's wrote: "We believe this program is a practical and effective solution to address the current situation.”

“I do definitely expect it to be a very positive experience for Tulsa,” said Muhammad. 

This program is only for abandoned carts, so carts actively being used by people experiencing homelessness will not be collected.

The company Cart Repo says if workers find personal belongings in the carts they won't throw them away. Instead, they'll bring those things to social service providers.