Not sure if this is specific to the Key Food on Ditmars or if it's spreading, but as of Tuesday night there was not a single hand basket by either entrance. I don't mean they were all in use; the little metal racks were gone completely. I asked the cashier while I was paying for a quart of milk, a lemon, and dish soap, and she said they were pulled because too many were getting stolen or broken. Fine, I understand the theft part, but the result is that everyone doing a six-item shop now has to navigate a full-size cart through the produce bottleneck and the deli line. I watched one guy try to balance three cans and a bag of coffee on the edge of a cart because it felt stupid to push it four feet.

Maybe it's just me, but the hand basket is the last honest format in the store. A cart makes a Tuesday milk run feel like a Costco run. It also changes the math at self-checkout — suddenly everyone has a cart and the line backs up toward the cereal aisle. I'm not asking for a concierge, just a stack of plastic baskets by the door. Has anyone else noticed other stores doing this, or is this just the Ditmars Key Food deciding to solve a petty crime problem by making the shopping experience slightly worse?

Noticed last week. Definitely theft, because I've seen the gray baskets sitting at the Q69 bus stop on 21st St more than once. People carry their groceries home in them and then just leave them there. I don't know why they can't do what the little C-Town on 34th Ave does and just keep a beat-up stack by the door. If I'm only grabbing yogurt and a Gatorade I'm not dragging a cart around the store. I've started using a canvas tote, but then you get the side-eye at the register because they think you're trying to shoplift. Lose-lose.

I'm not convinced it's only theft. The carts are huge and annoying on purpose. When you're in there for two things and push a cart, it's way easier to toss in a bag of chips or a pricey hummus you didn't plan on. The basket is a self-control tool, so of course they'd pull it. That said, I did ask the manager last month why there were only six baskets left, and he said something similar — they kept getting taken. I'd recommend a foldable tote with a flat bottom, not the floppy kind. It makes the register less awkward and you can toss it on your shoulder. But yeah, Key Food with only carts is a design crime.

Yorkville_Y, the C-Town on 34th still has baskets, but when I walked over on Wednesday about half of them were cracked at the handle and one was held together with what looked like electrical tape. It's almost worse than nothing because they flip over when you set them down. AstoriaAndy, I think you're right about the impulse-buy angle, and I got a slightly different story from the assistant manager on Thursday. He said the baskets were 'temporarily unavailable' because their usual vendor sent the wrong size, but also admitted the store had been losing a lot of them. So we're hearing both things from the same building.

What bothers me more is that there was no sign anywhere. No 'please use carts' note, no customer-service explanation. People were finding out at the door and doing that confused look around the vestibule, then either leaving or grabbing a cart with one hand while holding a shopping list in the other. I also noticed the basket return near the self-checkout is gone now, so even if they bring them back, the route to drop one off is not obvious. If they restock a small rack, I'd give it two weekends before half of them are at bus stops again. In the meantime I'm doing what you both said — bringing a tote, since carrying things in my hands makes everyone look at you like a shoplifter.

astoria_arch: That electrical tape basket on 34th is hilarious because it's been there for a year. No sign is almost more annoying than the missing baskets. At least put a laminated paper on the door that says 'no hand baskets, we know it's annoying.' The cashier story plus the assistant manager story means nobody actually knows what's going on. Classic supermarket ops. I keep an old IKEA tote folded in my jacket now. The thick blue one has a flat enough bottom and stands up in the cart if I do break down and use one.

Did the assistant manager say whether they'd still let you use one of the little produce baskets from under the mushroom shelf? I never know if those are fair game or if the stock guy will yell at you. Last time I tried to use one at a Key Food on 31st, the security guard told me to put it back. Also, H Mart on Northern Blvd has those small two-tier carts that are the perfect middle ground — wish every standard grocery would copy that instead of going all-in on the full-size metal barges.

Quick update: this morning there was a small stack of new black baskets at the produce entrance, maybe eight of them, not the old gray ones. I grabbed one for a four-item trip and it felt like a luxury good. A produce guy was standing right there keeping an eye on the stack, which tells you how long they expect them to survive. I still don't trust it to last through a Sunday, so I'm keeping the tote in my bag. AstoriaAndy, I didn't ask about the mushroom baskets — I've had the same security guard dilemma, so I don't bother. If these new baskets disappear by Monday, I think we have our answer about whether it was theft or ops.