I remember as a kid in the 80s seeing conveyor rollers in grocery stores.

Used to roll your purchased grocery to the pick up area where you would drive to and a guy would
place them in your trunk.

I don't know if this was extra or not.

How popular was this?

When did this start?  Was it there in the 60s, 70s?

Was it advertised on TV?

And finally why?...Did they not have shopping carts then?  Did they not allow shopping carts outside?
Or was this only used by stores that didn't have parking lots?

I remember as a kid in the 80s seeing conveyor rollers in grocery stores.

Used to roll your purchased grocery to the pick up area where you would drive to and a guy would
place them in your trunk.

I don't know if this was extra or not.

How popular was this?

When did this start?  Was it there in the 60s, 70s?

Was it advertised on TV?

And finally why?...Did they not have shopping carts then?  Did they not allow shopping carts outside?
Or was this only used by stores that didn't have parking lots?



What Country or what part of the US were you in?
in the 80s I lived in Las Vegas NV & Salinas California and I don't recall anything like this.

Hi snozberries....sorry for the delay

Yeah I'm in Canada

I'm thinking this could be a cold weather or even a Canadian only thing.

I guess in really bad snow conditions this service is useful.

Would be interesting to know if this service existed elsewhere.

It was a free service.  They put your groceries in a plastic krate, then gave you a plastic card that had a number that matched the one on the krate.  They then placed the krate on the conveyor and pushed it into a garage area.  You then drove around to the garage door, handed the card to the attendant and they would put your groceries in your car.

The problem with this service was you never knew if your groceries went missing (what happened to that loaf of bread I bought?), and somedays, you'd pull up and sit there for sometimes 5 minutes waiting for the person who was not even there to come, then you'd have to get out of your car and go and find out where the hell your groceries are.  On cold days, it was crazy lol

I don't know if this service still exists, but the local Metro (formerly A&P) stores here still have the garage and conveyor belt.

lol...that sounds about right whistledog

I can't believe they thought it was a good idea...I'm thinking it was a gimmick to get more customers

I can see it being useful for the elderly.

Imagine the lineups if everyone tried using this...And as I remember there was only one door at the pickup area.

The only way I can see this being practical is if you can order online...and a clerk would fetch your grocery
and put them in a karate and send it to the pick up area where you would go, say after work, and pick them up...ohh wait what about perishables...never mind even this is impractical.

whistledog how far back do you remember seeing this.

I remember seeing those in the early 80s too.  I'm originally from Ottawa and last time I saw one was in 2003 at the Loblaws in Billings Bridge, but then again I guess they need one there since the grocery store is right in the middle of the mall.

lol...that sounds about right whistledog

I can't believe they thought it was a good idea...I'm thinking it was a gimmick to get more customers

I can see it being useful for the elderly.

Imagine the lineups if everyone tried using this...And as I remember there was only one door at the pickup area.

The only way I can see this being practical is if you can order online...and a clerk would fetch your grocery
and put them in a karate and send it to the pick up area where you would go, say after work, and pick them up...ohh wait what about perishables...never mind even this is impractical.

whistledog how far back do you remember seeing this.



In the mid 90s was when I last remember this service being used, but I can remember it existing as long as I have been alive.