ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Many cities in western Washington are dealing with shopping cart theft and abandonment. It's a problem that cities want solved and stores need help with.
Shopping cart theft used to be a major issue for the City of Issaquah.
“We would drive by the transit center, and you'd see 50 to 100 carts at any time. Blue, red, tan carts,” said Jen Davis Hayes, the City of Issaquah economic development manager. “And that was after a few days of it being collected earlier.”
But Hayes said this problem has improved significantly. One year ago, an ordinance went into effect that requires 13 major retailers in Issaquah to contain and collect their own carts.
“So, we did not require them to install a system,” said Hayes. “Some have installed locking wheels, some have hired a service to go and collect carts.”
In the last six months of 2021, the city documented 1,000 abandoned shopping carts. In a nine-month period in 2022, they only found 100.
"It is an absolutely amazing response with how that has worked,” said Hayes.
If stores do not effectively contain their carts, they could face penalties. But Hayes said they have not had to go that far. She said this ordinance allowed for a partnership where the city and retailers work together to prevent shopping cart theft and shoplifting and to keep Issaquah free of cart clutter.
“So, our plans are to continue to keep that open dialog with the retailers and learn about what things they're facing and provide them with resources and opportunities to be successful here in Issaquah,” said Hayes.
In the City of Federal Way, officials are taking a different approach. They amended an ordinance in November that makes it a civil violation to push a cart on a sidewalk or road. People who break the law can get fined $50 and get their cart taken away.
“No tickets to this point,” said Federal Way Councilmember Jack Walsh. “And we're working on issuing warnings, letting them know of it, what will be coming up.”
Walsh said the new ordinance is not fully enforced just yet as the city works to get a truck to gather carts and additional staff to collect them, which the ordinance allowed funding for.
“It'll take a little while to get everything going to fully enforce it,” said Walsh.
When it comes to businesses in Federal Way, they are encouraged to label their carts. If their carts are labeled, then they can get them back from the city for free. If they are not, they have to pay $50.
“So, it's in the best interest of the stores to make sure that they are appropriately placard,” said Walsh. “It helps the stores and helps enforcement. It helps things all the way around.”