Feature Article in Produce Show Daily for FMI Connect 2015, 6/09/2015

Necessity Is the Mother of All Invention: The C3 Device For Complete Cart Control

A typical supermarket must retrieve over 5000 shopping carts from the parking lot each week—and that’s if only 33% of customers use a cart.*

Unfortunately, cart attendants routinely injure themselves from the physical strain of pushing and especially turning a heavy line of shopping carts. Also, shopping carts routinely get away from attendants, occasionally striking cars or people.

The C3 Device for Front-end Operations

The patented C3 Device is an elegant, innovative solution to serious issues associated with shopping cart retrieval, which is: labor-intensive, physically demanding and hazardous to property and guests. The C3 Device was developed with the cart attendant in mind, to make their job: easier, safer, more productive.

The Benefits of the C3 Device

The patented C3 Device has become an industry standard among the nation’s leading grocers and retailers thanks to its compelling benefits:

1. It reduces costly wear-and-tear on non-pivoting casters (flat spots created by scraping a line of casters laterally while maneuvering them).
2. It increases productivity—thanks to reduced fatigue and the fact that more carts can safely be retrieved per trip.
3. It reduces the likelihood that an employee will sustain a strain-induced injury from pushing a line of carts.
4. It reduces company costs related to runaway shopping carts.

Photo description: Due to the ergonomic benefits of lifting some of the non-pivoting cart casters, maneuvering 8 shopping carts with the C3 Device usually requires less force than 5 without.

Visit C3 LLC at booth 2719—west of the FMI Member Lounge—for more information and to try the C3 Safety Rope today. C3LLC.com

*Based on 2013 FMI Supermarket Facts: A median weekly sales of $482,160 per supermarket with an average of $30.62 in sales per transaction.

C3 LLC Interview in Produce Show Daily for FMI Connect 2015, 6/8/2015

C3 LLC is a family business committed to making the jobs of people in front-end operations easier, safer and more productive.

We sat down with Kassie Grimes, Account Manager, and her husband, Justin Grimes, Principal, to chat about entrepreneurship, innovation and what they’ve learned as a US manufacturer and vendor-partner for some of the world’s leading grocers and retailers.

Kassie: Whenever I describe our patented C3 Device, I hear the same thing: “You should appear on Shark Tank!”
Justin: That’s so true! I think it’s because its simplicity makes it an elegant product, and it solves a real problem.
Kassie: People try it for themselves and always have that aha moment.
Justin: Exactly. Also, we love Shark Tank, but it’s an unfortunate myth that entrepreneurs must seek venture capital and acquire debt for success.
Kassie: Starting out, using my parents’ garage as our workshop certainly helped keep expenses down.
Justin: That common narrative of start-ups launching from garages cracks me up—we didn’t even have our own garage at the time.
Produce Show Daily: What’s changed since those early days?
Kassie: Our production, design and sourcing capabilities have come a long way. And establishing Northeast Minneapolis as our headquarters has been a huge asset from a sourcing and design perspective.
Justin: Yeah, you can get anything made in our hometown. Also, growth has been slow and steady, but the C3 Device has become standard practice among many of the world’s leading grocers and retailers. That’s huge for us.
Produce Show Daily: For the benefit of our readers, can you share why you think the C3 Safety Rope is such a successful safety product?
Justin: Kassie mentioned the “aha” moment, but the C3 Safety Rope simply makes difficult, labor-intensive shopping cart retrieval easier, safer, even faster.
Kassie: My favorite testimonials come from cart attendants who share how glad they are it exists. Several concerned parents have even purchased the C3 Device for their kids whose first job is collecting carts.
Justin: I love that feedback. Cart retrieval isn’t usually a top priority for most companies, but it’s an integral part of customer service. Getting carts back to the store is physically demanding, and accidents and injuries are frequent. The C3 Device is a cost-effective way to address these risks.
Produce Show Daily: Thanks for taking time to tell us about your unique company and product.
Kassie: Absolutely! It’s fun reflecting on our company’s past and future, and we’re excited to design new ways to add value to our clients. I love that my husband and I work together. And our employees are truly an extended family.
Justin: I absolutely agree. Just as we care about protecting and empowering our employees in a manufacturing environment, we know work-place safety and productivity is top priority for those attending FMI Connect. We hope they’ll come chat with us.

Visit C3 LLC at booth 2719—west of the FMI Member Lounge—to try the C3 Safety Rope today. Visit C3LLC.com to place an order or write to info@C3LLC.com for more information.

Necessity Is The Mother Of All Invention: The C3 Device For Complete Cart Control

The C3 Device came about out of a simple need: To keep retail parking lots clear of unused shopping carts and return them to the store as safely and efficiently as possible.  The C3 Device was developed to make shopping cart retrieval easier, safer and more productive.

The C3 Device For Risk Management

Shopping cart retrieval is labor-intensive, physically demanding, and not without certain risks; accidents can and do happen.  For example, cart attendants have been known to hurt themselves from the physical strain of trying to push and especially turn a heavy line of shopping carts.  It is also not uncommon for shopping carts to get away from the attendant, potentially striking a car, or even worse, a valued guest.  For these very reasons, we developed the C3 Device.

The Benefits

The patented C3 Device accomplishes three main things:

1. The C3 Device makes the cart attendant more productive, (i.e. able to return more shopping carts safely and efficiently,) while reducing the human strain associated with pushing and especially turning a line of shopping carts.
2. It reduces costly wear-and-tear on non-pivoting casters.
3. The C3 Device puts the cart attendant in complete control of a line of shopping carts, thus greatly reducing the likelihood that a cart will get away from them, potentially striking a person or property.

Try the C3 Device Risk Free

The C3 Device was developed to make shopping cart retrieval easier, safer and more productive.  It was created to give retail operators piece of mind, all the while protecting the employee, the guest, and valued property.  Finally, the C3 Device is simple, safe, and cost effective. For these very reasons, the C3 Device has become and Industry Standard among the nation’s leading grocers and retailers. Why not try the C3 Device for yourself risk free today?