Help!! Grocery store hostile to cyclists!!!
 

I ride my bike to my local Sprouts all the time. My bike is my primary mode of transportation and I've been going to the Sprouts without a problem over a year, until they hired a new parking attendant who has been harassing cyclists for months now.

Here is what the parking attendant has done to me (and at least one other cyclist):

• Deliberately surrounds your bike with shopping carts
• Deliberately rams shopping carts into your bike
• Put garbage in my bike basket (he put used and contaminated paper towels they use to wipe shopping carts in my bike basket where I transport the food I purchased)

I've contacted the manager several times but this guy keeps doing it. I even told the manager that I wasn't trying to be a "Karen" and didn't want to get this guy in trouble at first, but he's harassed me and other cyclists repeatedly now.

The problem is that this store has NO FUNCTIONAL BIKE RACK!! It's almost never used because there's no way to lock your bike frame to the bike rack as it's set up. I tried explaining this to the parking attendant but he won't even listen and doesn't want to solve the problem.

The bike rack is sometimes even used by scooters. So like most cyclists, we tend to use the parking pole in the middle of the parking lot. I always park my bike outside of the walkway so as to not be an inconvenience, but this guy still won't stop harassing cyclists and the manager isn't doing anything about it.

Open to suggestions, but I could use some help from other cyclists to get this store to stop discriminating against us. My bike is my primary mode of transportation as it is for many of you I'm sure. Thanks!

It used to be largely confined to the general forum. Lately they have spilled into A&S and even touring.

Hmmmmm. I see a few options here.

1) Communicate your issue with the company management. See https://www.sprouts.com/customer-care/
2) They deliver.
3) Shop somewhere else.
4) Take your bike inside with you. If they say nothing, do your shopping and leave. If they tell you that bicycles are not allowed in the store, leave the store without your items

You need evidence of the harassment and vandalism. If you can obtain this then you can make a case of it. You could try to get your local news media interested in a story about this. There are other ways to stop these kind of incidents but you have to be willing to follow through.

Don't take this the wrong way...
 

But bicycling is your only mode of transport, you are a brand new member and your first post is a complaint listing a business's location and phone number implying you want us to call the store.

It is difficult to believe somebody whose only mode of transportation would just be signing up on this forum, and it's a little suspicious that you are asking us to contact the store.

You have received sound advice in the previous posts. Good luck with your problem.

East Fix::: Shop at Another Store and Drop your Attitude.

Right, I have pictures of the incident but I can't upload any because I'm still a new member. If you want, I'm happy to provide them to you in a method that's approved of.

You think I'm in the wrong? Why should I have to shop at a different store because they don't provide adequate bike parking?

I have pictures of carts surrounding my bike, though I could imagine someone arguing that it's not proof he put them there. I also have pictures of the trash he left in my bike basket. He was walking away with the same garbage that I found in my basket as I came out of the store. I told the manager of the time and date that it happened, within minutes of it occurring, so he can check the security camera.

We enjoy owning and riding our Bikes.
We are Not Here to Be your Lawyer.

I won't be somebodies lawyer but will suggest appropriate actions. The kind of stupidity that ylbaborp speaks of is a form of stocking. There are people around us that like to intimidate others. It can escalate and become dangerous. Yes ylbaborp could choose to leave the store, but I wouldn't.

how about because they don’t provide adequate bike parking! Find one that does and go there.

if this is a chain store go higher up the chain with proof.

Bring the bicycle in with you and don't leave it out of your control.
Works for me:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...501bb06b1d.jpg

If you can get video of him actually ramming your bike, this might actually be a police matter.

If this is really the only store you want to shop at, is there a street sign or something near the parking lot you can lock your bike to?

I have to say, I'm skeptical of your story because I don't know of any market anywhere with a "parking attendant."

Running away from a bully is never a good solution.

This is the same as cyclists being bullied by drivers. Either drivers have to share the road with cyclists or cyclists get their safe space by riding in protected bike lanes adjacent to motorized traffic.

In this case, either the grocery store allows bicycles to park where they have to or provide bike racks.

Where is this store located? Is the parking lot attendant the only person causing problems or are there multiple people doing this?

They are in the Westwood area in Los Angeles. Yeah, I believe it. That is one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the LA area. Home of UCLA, wedged between Beverly Hills and Brentwood. Big bucks there. Probably more money in Westwood than Minnesota and North Dakota combined.

"Madam, can I park your Bentley for you?",

OK, I didn't see OP until the location info had been stripped.

So essentially, he's parking his bike where a valet needs to get cars around in order to make a living because the store has improperly installed a bike rack and can't figure out why the valet is doing what he can to make him stop this? That about the size of it? Pretty sure the valet can't fix the bike rack.

Probably less money than Minnesota alone, but less than Minnesota and North Dakota combined.

"Parking attendant" may refer to the person whose job is to round up the carts and bring them back into the store.

This shows some interesting regional differences. In my locale, the upscale grocery stores are the ones trying to make themselves out to be bike friendly. I realize that being BMW friendly and being bike friendly is kind of an existential dilemma. ;)

Sprouts Farmers Market is a mega-grocery chain that prides itself on ‘sustainability’, involvement with the community and ESG street-cred.

Try writing to the CEO and ask for decent bike racks? Explain why this would be a great move for Sprouts. Make sure to include your dissatisfaction with the store manager.

Jack Sinclair
5455 East High Street, Suite 11, Phoenix, AZ 85054

https://about.sprouts.com/sustainability/

This appears to be the bike rack in question.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6c2eaa5cd.jpeg

In my city in some of the down area supermarkets there is an attendant. Turns out people would park at the store for several hours without shopping there. The drivers did not want to pay for parking on the downtown streets.

I've used a lot worse.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...249a4056fd.png
Lock it behind the cart corral.

No, there is no valet at this grocery store. There are many affluent people in this neighborhood, but it's not that fancy. There's a very expensive grocery store nearby they go to, which is insanely expensive. A cup of soup will run you $10 from the deli. It's nuts