"blake murphy" > wrote in message
...
> Shopping Cart Wash Lets Customers Get Groceries, Not Germs
>
> By Steve Hendrix
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Wednesday, July 23, 2008; Page B01
>
> The Kirsch brothers want you to know: At Chevy Chase Supermarket, it
> is now safe to lick the shopping carts.
>
> Not that they recommend it, mind you, but as co-owners, along with
> their dad, of the venerable independent grocery store on Connecticut
> Avenue, Jason and Kevin Kirsch know how common it is for their
> youngest customers to treat cart handles like lollipops. Worse, they
> know how unnerved folks have become in recent years over alarmist
> reports that rank shopping carts right up there with public restroom
> toilet seats in terms of germs.
>
> And so the brothers yesterday installed what they say is the
> Washington area's first full-scale shopping cart wash, a push-through
> device that sprays a misty peroxide solution over each cart between
> every use. It dries in a few seconds, leaving behind a faint whiff of
> beauty parlor and a cart promised to be 99.9 percent germ free for the
> next customer.
>
> "It kills all the nasty stuff, salmonella, staph, E. coli," said Bob
> Schwei, a technician with PureCart Systems, the Wisconsin-based
> manufacturer of the glossy white machine, which looks like an airport
> X-ray machine. "They're very popular in Korea -- bird flu."
> ad_icon
>
> As Schwei finished installing the unit next to the row of checkout
> aisles, customers stopped to see the first sanitized carts roll
> through. Suzi Walsh, a self-described germ-phobe and a regular shopper
> from Kensington, said she had been waiting for the new system since
> the store announced it was coming several weeks ago.
>
> "I'm the kind of person who uses a bit of paper towel to open the
> bathroom door," said Walsh, who said she prefers shopping in the
> winter when she can leave her gloves on. "This is great. I see the
> kids scratch their diapers, then grab the cart. No, no, no. I'm way
> beyond that."
>
> [..]
>
> Like all grocers, the Kirsches have seen concerns over cart
> cleanliness grow over the years. They used to pressure wash the carts
> on a monthly basis and more recently added sanitary wipe dispensers
> near them so customers could scrub their own handles, and more.
>
> "We'd see people out in the parking lot trying to wipe down the whole
> cart," said Walter Kirsch, who has worked at the store since 1963 and
> owned it, with his sons, since 1985. "We're a small family business.
> This is just another way that we're taking care of the neighborhood."
>
>
> more at:
>
> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/22/AR2008072201787.html?sub=AR>
>
> your filth-encrusted pal,
> blake

I used to drive through a local Costco very early when the gas station
opened up - around 6:00 AM. Every morning all the carts and food area
tables were out in front of the store and they looked as if they had been
pressure washed. Never saw them doing it but that's what it looked like.


--
Old Scoundrel

(AKA Dimitri)