Randy - i've thought the same - coin deposits to return carts - would prevent losing carts by folks using them to take groceries home who don't have cars (a buck deposit someone else will return the cart if the first guy leaves it anywhere)

and would of course save on labor of teen baggers having to coral all of them - and no carts being blown across lots

just makes so much sense but i suppose the first store to do it would be risking customer loyalty

my local Kroger actually pays a guy with a truck $1 for each cart he retrieves from apartment houses, the senior center, etc. He says he's been doing this 20 years and makes a tidy sum.

But also many carts never do return and that's the big cost.

I've also seen carts with devices on them that make the wheels lock after they reach a certain distance from the stores.

As an American what I like about the hypermarches is that I can find stuff.
European stores tend to be quite strict as to what kind of store sells different items, and without a key you can't always find what you want.
For example on a recent trip to Paris, we could not find chap sticks. The groceries had moisturizers and shampoo, and make up stores had lip gloss, but the LaBello chapies we craved were only to be found at the hypermarche at Val d'Europe and in a vending machine in one of our hotels.

I finally had the opportunity to notice the difference in the handling of 2-wheel and 4-wheel drive carts since this discussion started. I am sorry (?) to say that I didn't notice any difference. I can steer both types fine and still can't imagine the problems that some of you claim to have.

I thought the large food section at Auchon was more like a Costco. I though the selection was quite wide and the quality good.

The housewares, electronics, and clothing sections were like Walmart.