There is no spoon..... err basket.

No it's really not a basket! It's attached to the frame to hold the other baskets. When I cashiered at Target I used to laugh at how many people tried to pick the whole thing up. I'm a bad person.

It just means not to take the last one so they stack neatly when cashiers throw them down. It is a basket, just not to be used by shoppers.

Erm, most of the time those bottom baskets are attached to the rack, so they really AREN'T baskets.

You are all right; this is a basket, but since it's attached to a rack generally they you will look like an idiot using it to shop with. Thanks for your time...

@HootieMac:

Must be a slow Consumerist news day.

I wonder if that's an 'official' sign. When I worked at Target, I made a sign that asked customers to 'please return Halloween masks to their hooks when finished' as I was tired of fixing these displays several times a day. The sign worked great!

The next day, a friend of mine tried the same thing, management caught him, and a warning was issued because the sign was not 'official.' Ahh the mundanes of retail...

@BlondeGrlz: Blasted not-a-basket basket. Last time I tugged on that thing I turned around to the other stack and pulled on ANOTHER bolted down basket.

I need to introduce Target to my not-a-stick-of-dynamite dynamite.

That's a basket holder, not a basket. It shouldn't be disguised as one but that pic is not contradictory like the submitter thinks.

"THIS BASKET NOT FOR USE"

They should have put that sign in the bottom of a basket at the TOP of a stack of baskets.

Not a comment.

Consumerist is losing its mind.

Ceci n'est pas un panier?

Target sure seems to have a funny habit of labeling what things aren't.

@Willow01: Comment bolted to bottom of thread.

This is probably a reaction to all the Clear signs that have been going up in some regions.

It's not a basket. It's attached to the frame and is there to hold the other baskets. If anything it's a bad design since they could have made this fact more obvious.

When I worked at Target we once had a guy who was pissed that we were out of baskets (holiday season, all were in the store being used) he took the non-basket with frame and did his shopping. we were informed of this on our walkie talkies so we could make sure to witness it and have a laugh

The cake is a lie.

This basket intentionally left empty.

@Jason Rouse: It's definitely an older design at least.

So why do they color it to look like a basket, put grids in it to look like a basket and put a store-made sign in there that implies "THIS ISN'T A BASKET!! GEE, YOU DUMB SHOPPER"?

@bball123h: I like this.

It's not a basket, it's a tisket. Or is that a tasket? Anyway, it's clearly not a basket.

But it IS a basket....meant to hold the other baskets.

I'm thinking the person who took the picture put that sign in there, just so they could call Target crazy.

It obviously ISN'T a basket.

IT IS a piece of paper laying in a basket.

[en.wikipedia.org]

@UniComp: Isn't it a shame that people have to have a SIGN to tell them to do this?

I worked retail very briefly - couple of months - but that was enough to burn into my soul forever and ever: What the shopper messes up, some poor employee is going to have to *clean* up.

My son approached me in the grocery store once with something or another that he wanted; I said no, I'm not buying it, go put it back where you got it. A few minutes later, I noticed the same item he'd been holding, tossed on top of a display of lettuce or some such thing. I'm not sure which surprised him more, that I saw it and recognized it, or that I made him pick it up and go all the way across the store to put it back. (And this time I went with him to make sure.)

Every time I go into a "superstore" like Target or Walmart, I see people picking things up and then just shoving them back any old way on the shelf - or in some cases, just dropping them right on the floor! That's just inexcusable - and how sad that management prefers to have a hissyfit over an "unofficial" sign (assuming it's polite and grammatically correct) rather than help their employees maintain a clean, pleasant area.

@bibliophibian: That's nothing. When I worked as a grocery stocker we would find frozen foods and meats (I'm talking nice big steaks) stuffed behind things on the non-refrigerated plain old grocery shelves. Since we had no way of knowing how long it had been there the only thing we could do was put it with the rest of the spoiled foods to be thrown out with the trash after it was subtracted from inventory.

@omgwtflolbbqbye: Youre wrong. IT IS NOT a piece of paper. "This" is an English word. j/k
All the comments on each article are just too funny for me. Thanks to everyone who is participating on this site! And keep up the good work Consumerist!

@savdavid: Each basket is designed to hold another basket perfectly. Using the plastic from a basket in this way is cheaper to make since you already make baskets.

@juddcarlos2003: But there is no "This" on the paper.

@LiquidGravity:

Yes, I used to work in Whole Foods and people would leave meat behind ALL THE TIME. Since most of the meat products are behind the counter, I imagine there was a bit of sticker shock once the meat was packaged and handed to the customer. I wish people would just refuse and say "No thanks" and the meat could be easily returned to the storage cooler, etc., but I guess that's a bit embarrassing.

So what did people do? They left $30-40 packages of meat in various isles so they could spoil.

Man, nobody appreciates a good existentialist joke these days.

@FrugalFreak: *slap*

@omgwtflolbbqbye: oh. Now I feel stupid. I hadn't even realized. Thanks! But like I wrote... j/k

@Eyebrows McGee (on Twitter: LPetelle): j/k... I do appreciate it. Take care.

Maybe if Target would do a better job of keeping these baskets stocked and ready for customers, they would not have to create dumb signs like these.

Also, does Target ever clean their baskets or shopping carts? They are like garbage pits -- will spilled food, dirt, and other junk in them ALL THE TIME.

@BlondeGrlz: i used to do the same thing. it's all good.

@BlondeGrlz: Instead of laughing at the customers you could have refilled it with more baskets or called for someone to take care of it. The Target we used to go to always annoyed me. It was a two story store and the first floor was always out of baskets. But the second floor was always overflowing with baskets. And naturally all the things I needed were on the first floor.

I've seen some of our guests rip that basket from its metal frame... I've also seen 1 guy dragging the frame around the store, placing items in it as he went along. The real crime here is that this Target store is unable to keep its basket kiosks stocked.

@ken2148: At my Target the baskets are always neatly stacked by the "out" door. They never have any at the "in" door.

They sure have a lot of "not a's." How about:
"not a employee"
"not a open register"
"not a Wal-Mart"

DOWn, baby, DOWn!

@bohemian: A basket basket? *head explodes*

If Target would actually keep baskets on hand, they probably wouldn't have a need for that. The one I go to is allllways out of baskets.

Rxram: "I've also seen 1 guy dragging the frame around the ...

Well, now, THAT's what I'd like a picture of, please.

@juddcarlos2003: I know I just like to nitpick

Here is another nonsense sign you find in ALL Tarbutt stores: "CUSTOMER SERVICE"

[targetfiling.blogspot.com]

Either it is crazy or insanely good at stealth.