Pound in the trolley?

[DingleyDel]

Having a slightly drunken argument with dh. We are both early 30s. He swears that a staple memory of his childhood was putting a pound in the supermarket trolley, IN ALL SUPERMARKETS!! I swear this was never a thing until Aldi and Lidl arrived in the U.K. I swear I remember news articles about how great they were but you had to have a pound for the trolley, it was so notable. I don’t remember ever putting a £ in the trolley in my childhood. I grew upon the SE, Dh in the SW. was it really a common thing in the 90s?

YABU pound in the trolley was completely normal

YANB pound in the trolley was introduced by Lidl/ Aldi

I'm in Scotland and remember needing a pound coin in the 80s

Child of the 80s, definitely a thing in my less than desirable hometown in NE England.

Kwik save definitely needed £1 for the trolley. I'm sure they charged for carrier bags too. You would hide them at the bottom of the carrier bag pile so your friends didnt find out your parents shopped there.

When I was a young child, few if any places needed a coin for the trolleys. I seem to recall it starting in small town centre supermarkets rather than Lidl/Aldi, then it gradually came in at more and more places.

It still isn't universal: I went to a big Asda last week that didn't take a deposit for the trolleys. Then again, the only way to nick a trolley from there would have been to take it around a motorway roundabout or down a flight of maybe 20-30 steps.

Lidl and Aldi have always had coin slots, because they want to minimise the need for staff, and make the most efficient use of the staff they have, to keep costs down.

Well for a start Aldi and Lidl was in the 90s. I don't think they were the first I seem to remember Asda did it too. I remember when Sainsbury's started it - I was annoyed!

Remember needing a pound when at uni in early 90s. Must have been sainsburys or tescos. Now wondering what else is exactly the same price now as it was 30 years ago.

We did it at Safeway!

@InTheLabyrinth

Coins to get a trolley definitely predates Aldi/Lidl. But not at all supermarkets.

This!!

Late 80's/early 90's. Asda and Sainsbury trollies needed coins. Otherwise students pushed each other home in them, before parking in the garden to use as BBQ's and personal bottle banks!

Early 90s we lived on a (council) estate about 15 mins walk from Tesco with no car. We used to take the shopping back in the trolley and then give the trolley back to the kids on the estate to take back and collect the pound. It was cheaper than a cab and the kids got some pocket money. So yes, it happened!

Way before Aldi and Lidl. But dependant totally on area…eg are people going to walk off home with trolleys or take trolley somewhere else and dump, or take into another shop nearby meaning both shops waste money on retrieving and sorting their trolleys.
That’s it.

The use of coin deposit trolleys tends to depend on the area in which the shop is an whether taking abandoning of trolleys is a problem in my experience most urban supermarkets use them whilst one near us but slightly out of town does not.

YABU. The pound in the trolley totally pre-dates Aldi and Lidl.

I remember it being 10p

YABU we definitely had them in early 90s me and my brother used to fight to take the trolley back as we got to keep the £1 coin.

Dm refused to shop in Sainsbury's because they wanted a coin for the trolly so we always went to Tesco or later on Asda. Early 90s (maybe late 80s).

Definitely had it in sainsbury when my kids were small. They are around 30 now

sorry OP you lose.

yep sorry remember some in the 80s prob not a pound coin though

and then give the trolley back to the kids on the estate to take back and collect the pound

But in the early 90's the system always worked with 1p and a matchstick didn't it?

Anyway, as others have said it was long before aldi and lidl, but very much dependent on area.

Well I've just googled to see when the pound coin came into use thinking this might solve the puzzle. However I was amazed to find that the pound coin replaced the pound note in 1983. So that doesn't solve anything!

I grew up in a very diverse colourful northern town. Safeway, Morrison’s and Sainsburys all needed a pound. These where my only supermarkets!

Oh I miss sainsburys 8p economy cola, 2p beans and cabs of new potato’s

I think it depended on what area you live in

…not to mention thrupenny bits.

My local Co-op had trolleys in the late 80s that took 10p pieces