Mum labels Kmart ‘disgusting’ over ‘trolley fail’ – but the retailer claims there is a good reason why it doesn’t always have a feature busy parents need
- A Queensland mother has criticised Kmart for its lack of child-friendly trolleys
- She visited the K hub store in Gatton only to find none readily available
- Kmart has responded, telling customers the store is too narrow for those trolleys
- The budget retailer is exploring other ways it can integrate kid-friendly services
An Australian mother has criticised Kmart for ‘disgusting’ policy that means there are no child-friendly trolleys at certain stores – but the retailer claims there is a safety reason for it.
The woman, who is from Queensland, visited her closest Kmart store this week – which is in Gatton – and found that they no longer had any trolleys with a child seat in the front.
‘I took my baby with me, all geared up ready to do a bit of Christmas shopping,’ she wrote on Facebook.
‘When I got there I couldn’t find the child-friendly trolleys. I spoke to the staff and then the manager and they advised me they had requested child-friendly trolleys, as they used to have them, however were advised they were no longer allowed to use them.
The woman, who is from Queensland, visited her closest Kmart store this week – which is in Gatton – and found that they no longer had any trolleys with a child seat in the front
‘This is disgusting, how are parents or caregivers with young children supposed to shop? Or don’t we have that privilege? Will you take away wheelchair-friendly stores next too?
‘From such a huge chain store such as Kmart I would expect so much more as opposed to turning up to this.’
Her frustrations were shared by other mothers living in Gatton, who said they too were surprised to learn there were only regular trolleys available.
‘I went the other week thinking that they had child-friendly trolleys, but arrived to find they didn’t anymore,’ another woman commented beneath her post.
‘So I wore [my daughter] in the carrier, had to push a trolley and hold onto a toddler all at once. Not in a hurry to go back.’
A Kmart spokesperson has responded to the criticism by claiming that particular store is so narrow it’s impossible to have the larger child-friendly trolleys there.
A Kmart spokesperson has responded to the criticism by claiming that particular store is so narrow it’s impossible to have the larger child-friendly trolleys there
‘Our Gatton store is a K hub which is one of our small format stores,’ the spokesperson said.
‘Due to their size smaller size they carry a shopping basket and some of our K hub stores have a compact trolley which doesn’t have the ability to hold children like a larger seated trolley would.
‘The size of our larger trolley carried in full size Kmart stores poses a safety risk in these smaller stores due to having narrower aisles and the large amount of product we offer the Gatton community.
‘We’re committed to making our stores a great place to shop, for all our customers, and customer feedback is really important to us and we will continue to look into ways we can better accommodate families shopping with young children our K hub stores.’