Caroline's Carts Make It Easier to Shop with a Child with Special Needs

By Kaitlyn Healy October 3, 2014

Grocery shopping with kids can be a challenge, and even more so if your child has special needs. But Caroline's Carts, which have expanded to more than 250 stores, are making the supermarket easier for parents with special kids. Find out how to get Caroline's Carts in your local supermarket.

caroline's cart

When Drew Ann Long’s daughter outgrew the fire truck carts in her local grocery store, she found herself pushing a grocery wagon with one hand and a wheelchair with the other. Borne out of need, she came up with the idea for Caroline’s Cart six years ago.

In June 2014, ShopRite partnered with Procter & Gamble to put a Caroline’s Cart in all of ShopRite’s Northeast locations—more than 250 stores. Some local stores such as the Fort Hamilton Commissary in Brooklyn, which only serves persons with military IDs, have also purchased the specialty cart for their customers to use.

Caroline’s Cart was built to serve many different kinds of people. The seat can hold up to 250 pounds, and serves the elderly as well as individuals with limited or no mobility, autism, Down syndrome, and myriad disabilities. “There is not a community that can say they don’t have anyone who needs this cart,” Long says.

Caroline’s Cart is 100-percent demand-driven, so go to your local grocery store owner, explain your situation, and propose Caroline’s Cart as the solution. “You’ve got to make some noise and say that your store is not accessible,” Long says.

For more information, visit carolinescart.com or call 800-351-CART (2278).