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Turning Off TV
Celebrate the Low-TV/No-TV Life
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bfermanich2
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 Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 5:09 pm Post subject: Kids consumed by TV in shopping carts |
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Check out this article in my local paper The Atlanta Journal & Constitution. Its really sad that kids these days are becoming dependent on TV and electronic media in general. The all-powerful TV is becoming omnipresent in our modern American (and European) culture.
We are raising what I like to call the "Entertainment Generation". Read on and be disgusted!...
| Quote: | Kids consumed by TV in shopping carts
By PATTI BOND
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/08/06
Parents, take heart. There's no need to break into a cold sweat during your weekly trek to the grocery store.
Publix is testing a new weapon in taming the Terrible Twos and, surprise, it comes in the form of a television.
Meet the TV Kart, a car-shaped shopping cart fully loaded with a TV screen that plays popular children's shows.
"I want Barney!" squeals little Keanna Burd, 2, jumping up and down in the cart corral at a Publix in Alpharetta.
The carts have only been here for two weeks, but Keanna is already a veteran. She's in the front seat, flipping on the dashboard screen faster than Mom and Dad can grab the Publix balloon and cookie that used to keep her in check — sort of.
"She's at the age where she wants to get into everything. She'll grab cereal boxes, wine bottles, you name it," notes Ryan Burd, who gets a knowing nod from wife Lisa. "Thank goodness for these new carts because it makes her forget all the other stuff in here."
That, of course, is exactly the point with the TV Kart, which is being tested at five Publix stores in Suwanee and Alpharetta. From free cookies to child care centers, grocery stores have rolled out a nonstop arsenal of kid-friendly ideas over the years aimed at letting parents shop in peace.
Peace, however, will set you back $1 in the case of the TV Kart, which is operated by battery and an onboard computer. Parked on charging mats, the carts have brakes that won't release until parents stick a dollar into the vending slot.
There are three kinds of carts to choose from, depending on kids' viewing choice — Barney, The Wiggles or Bob the Builder.
"They've been a big hit so far," said Publix store manager Jerry Meyer, watching a steady stream of tots making a beeline for the carts on a recent Friday morning. Kids were running so fast toward the carts that many parents didn't see a fairly small "insert $1" sign, though, spurring a few borderline Terrible Two moments when the wheels wouldn't unlock.
Cash in hand, Meyer popped in a dollar here and there to keep the peace. "They'll learn. By next week, they'll figure out they have to pay," he notes.
The metro Atlanta Publix stores are the first retailers in the Southeast to try the TV Karts, according to manufacturer Cabco, a New Zealand company that introduced video-equipped carts to the United States eight months ago.
Publix, the No. 2 grocery chain in metro Atlanta behind Kroger, plans to test the TV Karts for two months before deciding whether to roll them out to other stores and other markets, said spokeswoman Brenda Reid.
Wal-Mart and Texas chain H-E-B also are testing the TV Kart on a regional basis, said Patrick Burke, Southern regional manager for Cabco USA. In all, nearly 2,000 TV Karts have been installed at U.S. stores, Burke said.
Like other retailers that have signed up for the TV Karts, Publix gets an undisclosed commission on rentals. The carts are owned and operated by Cabco, so the main investment is the real estate that retailers have to give up for the vending machine and bulky charging mats.
Cabco tells retailers that adding TV Karts generates an extra $100,000 in sales a year for a store. According to the company's research, parents shop an average of eight to nine minutes longer when using a TV Kart versus a regular shopping cart.
"The longer they shop, the more they spend," Burke said.
If they live up to their billing, TV Karts won't be a hard sell with parents.
"We claim we can keep a child entertained for 48 minutes," Burke said. "That's long enough for a good, solid shop." |
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irishsikh
Joined: 19 Sep 2007
Posts: 7
Location: LONDON UK
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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If i went to a supermarket and found these shopping carts with tv's in them i would take my coustom elsewere and then inform the stores owners why i was no longer a coustomer of his stores  
_________________
TE IRISHSIKH SEZ MOTORHEAD THERE IS NO LOUD ENOUGH,STOP WATCHING THE TELLY AND GET A LIFE INSTEAD |
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