Sylvan Goldman - The Man Who Eased Our Torment in Supermarkets
Many customers, entering the supermarket hungry, begin to sweep away everything in their path. And now the grocery cart is gradually filling up not only with healthy food, but also with a couple of packs of chips, popcorn, several packs of ice cream that begin to melt rapidly until you wait for that plump man who cannot find a salary card in any way. The desire of a person to buy everything that comes to hand in a store is called an impulse purchase by marketers. And that same grocery cart does a good job for them. Have you ever wondered how she came into our lives?
This item owes its appearance to the entrepreneur Sylvan Goldman. This is how his story began. Sylvanas's father was the owner of a small store, and almost from childhood he helped him in all matters. When the guy was drafted into the army after World War I, he became a chef and supplyman in charge of delivering groceries to the battalion. So Goldman gradually began to study the specifics of the market.
From "Grocery of the Sun" to "Shaltay-Baltai"
In 1920, the young man returned from the army, ready for business exploits. Together with his brother Alfred, they organized a small warehouse for storing vegetables. When both young men traveled across the country in search of cheaper products, they came across a "magic" store where they could buy everything at the same time: vegetables and fruits, and meat products, and hygiene items, and household chemicals. Without thinking twice, they decided to open the same supermarket called "Grocery of the Sun" in their homeland. Gradually, one store turned into a network of similar trading establishments. However, not long before the Great Depression, the brothers realized that they should sell their business as soon as possible. And so they did.
Sylvan Goldman
After a while, when the crisis ended, the brothers reopened a supermarket chain called Shaltai-Baltai. Business went up the hill again thanks to quality products, excellent staff and discounts on individual purchases. By then, Sylvan Goldman had married Margaret's girlfriend, whom he jokingly called "Little Katz." His chosen one became not only a beloved woman, but a devoted friend and reliable partner for many years. And here we are approaching one of the versions of creating a grocery cart.
How the cart came to be
One day, Margaret went to the store with her little son. And when the woman filled the grocery basket with goods, the boy suddenly put it on his toy truck. So he showed that he was helping his mother. Perhaps it was at this very moment that Goldman said to himself, "Eureka."
According to another version, one day after a long working day, he simply saw two folding chairs and decided to connect them by adding wheels. At first, people were wary of the invention. For example, women believed they had to roll a stroller with an infant. And then the grocery will also be added. And the men generally considered it an insult. They say that they are not able to carry ordinary baskets, or what?
To get shoppers interested, Goldman even posted an ad featuring a lathered woman with a basket full of groceries and the caption: "Walking through the store will be enjoyable if you don't bother with a manual basket." But it did not help. Then Goldman invited a pretty girl to his store who advertised a trolley, but this also did not have the desired effect. It wasn't until Sylvan Goldman hired dummy shoppers to demonstrate the benefits of a wheeled basket that things got off the ground. Today, no supermarket can do without a grocery cart.
As for Goldman, in the 60s he suddenly went into the construction business. And in the 80s, his financial condition was already estimated at $ 400,000. Sylvan Goldman did not waste time over gold, like Tsar Koschey, but was engaged in charity work. So, he invested in the construction of the Blood Institute in Oklahoma and the Center for Human Relations. Was awarded the Eleanor Roosevelt Prize. Sylvan Goldman passed away in November 1984, following his beloved wife, who had passed away a week earlier. Well, they could not live without each other.
Of course, Goldman lived a wonderful life, benefiting millions of people. Undoubtedly, the grocery cart is one of the best inventions of mankind.
Things to know (Q&A)
Where did carts originate?
The cart , usually drawn by a single animal, is known to have been in use by the Greeks and the Assyrians by 1800 bc (although it is generally assumed that such vehicles could have been used as early as 3500 bc as an extension of the invention of the wheel).
Which animal is used to pull carts?
The draught animals used for carts may be horses , donkeys or mules , oxen , and even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs.
What does cart stand for?
CART
| Acronym | Definition |
|---|---|
| CART | Cloud and Radiation Testbed |
| CART | Center for Advanced Research and Technology |
| CART | Communication Access Real-time Translation (Speech Source, Inc. captioning system) |
| CART | County Animal Response Team (Maine, USA) |