By the numbers Shopping cart thefts

$180 million: Amount U.S. supermarket chains lose on stolen shopping carts each year

$100: Average cost of a shopping cart

1.8 million: Number of carts stolen each year

$18,000: Cost of 200 carts with anti-theft devices

1969: Year February was designated “National Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket” month

Source: Food Marketing Institute, St. Petersburg Times