True to her persistent nature, Long kept pushing her product, finally getting the call she had long dreamed of: a Technibilt representative calling to say that they were going to manufacture her carts.
“When Drew Long first came to us several years back, we weren’t ready for this kind of project,” explained Alice Little, sales and marketing coordinator at Technibilt. “Once we became part of Wanzl, the world’s largest shopping cart manufacturer, we had access to lots of engineering and special equipment that we didn’t have before.”
Technibilt made some adjustments to Long’s original prototype and began its first run of “Caroline’s Carts,” launching them in July 2013 in the Midwest. The spacious carts have a contoured seat designed to be comfortable for individuals with low muscle tone, a harness to secure passengers up to 250 pounds and locking brakes to provide additional stability when loading and unloading passengers. Today the $850 carts, double the price of a regular shopping cart, are available in numerous chain stores including Kroger, Publix, Shop Rite, Martin’s and Albertson’s.
“Some stores might get two carts but most stores start with just one. We give all the stores special handling procedures, because they are too expensive to let someone just walk off with them,” said Little. “Stores get a safety and handling brochure telling them what to expect and telling store personnel and customers how to use the cart.”
The Caroline’s Carts Facebook page has over 14,000 likes and frequent pictures and posts of the carts in use attest to their success.
“These carts drive like a dream,” reported Little. “They just glide through the stores and we are so proud of them. There are so many special needs families and kids in every community all across the United States and we are so excited to be a part of this.”
Caroline’s Carts have been making their way around the world – a shipment went out to military bases this past June. Some of the carts have found their way to Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Caroline’s Carts have become a family business for Long.
“My son is nine and he has no memory of us not doing this,” noted Long. “We have been very strong in our faith and Caroline, whose Rett syndrome is the result of a spontaneous genetic mutation, is the child I was supposed to have. I have never designed a product before, never brought a product to market before, but G-d gave me the vision to do this. It all comes down to accessibility. If the shopping cart business was helping so many other groups out there, why weren’t they helping special needs families as well? Before there were no other options, but now there is finally a solution.”
Caroline’s Carts was awarded the 2013 Da Vinci Award for Transportation and Mobility and are available in all 48 contiguous states except North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and Louisiana. To find out more about Caroline’s Carts visit www.carolinescarts.com.