FALCONER – The case of the multiple, missing shopping carts, from the Tops Friendly Market in Falconer has been solved – sort of.

On a Facebook post dated Feb. 9, in a Falconer Neighborhood Watch Group, the store’s manager said she was looking for help finding about 20 shopping carts that have gone missing from the store over the past few moths. The store manager later reported that she spent three hours searching for the missing shopping carts and recovered nine of them. One cart was found at the local Crosbys; two were found at the Budget Inn motel and six were found at a private residence in a fenced yard.

A representative with the 110 S. Work St. Tops location said 19 of the missing carts have been found and returned to the store, and only four carts are currently unaccounted for.

The average price of a shopping cart, like the ones used by Tops, runs from $125 to $175 each, according to mightypricey.com. That means, conservatively, the store was losing about $2,875 to replace the missing carts and as much as $4,025.

According to topsmarkets.com, the grocery store conglomerate operates 148 stores, and 59 gas station/convenience stores as of June 2024. Additionally, the chain formerly operated stores in Ohio and Massachusetts. With the moniker of the ‘Friendly Market,’ the chain stores mainly operate stores in Upstate New York, Vermont, and Northern Pennsylvania.