Rampant trolley 'theft' rattles hypermarkets

On a closer investigation, it has been found that the practice is more evident at outlets near residential areas as it is convenient for customers living in the neighbhourhood to take the trolleys to their villas or apartments stealthily without attracting the attention of the hypermarket employees.Several such trolleys have been located at places such as fish markets and souqs and being used for other purposes, complained officials of the hypermarkets. Ummer Aboobacker, purchase manager, Family Food Centre, said they were left with only 37 of the 500 trolleys purchased for their Frij Al Nasr branch a few months ago. “We have noticed that many customers take the trolleys away very discreetly and use them at their premises for various purposes. They are using it for transporting LPG cylinders and for carrying waste to the garbage containers on the roads. Many newspaper vendors and people who distribute flyers have noticed many trolleys at various villas and apartments,” he explained.“We have located many such trolleys at different areas such as the fish market at Corniche or being used for selling food at souqs and many more. Given that a trolley costs about QR600 it is a big loss for the company,” Aboobacker added. A shopping trolley is being used to dispose waste materials.LuLu Hypermarket D Ring Road general manager R Krishna Kumar said the theft of trolleys is an annoying fact that has been going on for some time. “We have engaged several security personnel to check if customers are taking the trolleys beyond our outlettarget="_blank"'>