Some Lost Carts of Yesteryear - MICRO UPDATE

Some Lost Carts of Yesteryear - MICRO UPDATE

  April 27, 2018    Robby S.

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Howdy everyone!

I recently returned from a trip to New York where I stopped by this abandoned Circuit City in Middletown, NY. I was looking through some pictures that I took there and found some interesting pieces that I missed while I was out, and I'm pretty mad I didn't get more of an opportunity to photograph them while I was out.

The thing that really gets me is that I almost went into the receiving bay where the carts were located, but was kind of scared to. I chickened out and figured a homeless person might live there and I didn't want to frighten them. At this point its such a cool find and know that I know what's there, I wouldn't be as reluctant (so sorry potential homeless people)

Here's the original picture where I found the carts:

The first cart that I found was an abandoned Circuit City shopping cart, which was in the new style before the chain's closure. I remember seeing this cart and thinking that it was just a misplaced Target cart, but after seeing some pictures of Circuit City carts online I knew I was mistaken. I've zoomed in the Circuit City carts (although I think it's pretty obvious which ones they are)

For reference, here's a much better picture of a regular Circuit City shopping cart.

©RetailByRyan95 via Flickr

I also found a whole bunch of old Circuit City carts just across the road at Ollie's Bargain Outlet. At first, I just presumed they were old Lowe's carts as there was a Lowe's just down the road, but after looking at some pictures of older Circuit City carts, the ones at Ollie's match perfectly!

Here's the Circuit City carts at Ollie's:

And here are some pictures of older Circuit City carts, which match the ones at Ollie's perfectly!

©David Keymel via HCI Photo Blog

©RetailByRyan95 via Flickr

Perhaps Ollie's bought the carts from Circuit City as they were closing... or just assumed them maybe? I bet Circuit City left them in the store, and when Gold's Gym took over after CC's closure they sold them off to free up the space. I'm not too sure how they got to Ollie's... or even if they're from Circuit City.

I have suspicion that the carts for Northern Tool + Equipment originated from Caldor as you'll see below, but I don't have too much evidence for it.

Also hiding in plain sight is the Caldor shopping cart, but this one's a bit more tricky to see. I adjusted the picture a little bit and upped the saturation and contrast so that the 'Caldor' logo stuck out a little bit more. This cart was in REALLY bad shape, though, as it looks like just the carriage remained.

The Caldor from which this cart likely originated from was located just behind the Circuit City plaza in the Wallkill Plaza (400 Route 211, Middletown, NY), where the property now resides as a Big Lots. This is one of the newer carts, hence the newer style 1991 logo

For reference, here's a much better picture of a regular Caldor shopping cart.

©The Caldor Rainbow via Flickr

Compare that Caldor cart to the Northern Tool + Equipment carts at Ollie's and let me know what you think down below

Looking through some historical Google Maps imagery, it appears that the carts have been there since around 2016... That being said, I'm pretty sure they're not going anywhere anytime soon so I'll try to make the trek back up to Middletown to get better shots because they're freakin' awesome!

[UPDATE] Oh, and to add to the burn, I think that blue shopping cart is from a Super Kmart in Middletown which closed in 2003 and is now a Burlington Coat Factory.

IF YOU'RE IN THE MIDDLETOWN, NY AREA, PLEASE GO CHECK OUT THE CIRCUIT CITY/CALDOR/KMART CARTS AND SEND ME PICTURES AND I WOULD LOVE YOU FOREVER :)

So yeah, I'm kinda bummed I missed out on such a gem

Until next time
~RS