Mini Shopping Carts

LIZ PARKS

What if portable shopping baskets had wheels? Would shoppers use them instead of plastic bags for small purchases? U.S. retailers are about to find out.

TrolleyBasket USA, Killingworth, Conn., has just launched ShopperBasket, a swivel-wheeled basket with adjustable-height handles that shoppers can buy and use to cart home groceries.

ShopperBasket is available in a 7.4-gallon size, with a suggested retail of $25. It comes in black so it can't be confused with similar “TrolleyBaskets” that customers use only inside a store in place of shopping carts.

A number of U.S. retailers have expressed interest in both types of baskets, which are marketed in several Northern European countries, said Pamela Olausson, president of TrolleyBasket USA. New York-based Duane Reade, a drug store chain that also sells convenience foods, is planning to test TrolleyBasket in three stores this spring, said Olausson.