Recs for extra sturdy granny cart?

This request is slightly different than that posed by David Hammond in the Somewhere to Put My Cheese thread. More than cheese, I'm looking for an extra durable granny part with which to transport groceries across the city.

A few times a month, I need to shop for and transport literally across the entire North Side (or sometimes half of the South Side) groceries enough to cook a multi-course meal for 12, often including heavy beverages (kids I cook for drink too much juice) and kitchen tools. I rely on public transportation, buses and trains, and--go figure--the train stops I use don't have elevators. I'm pretty strong for my size, and I've managed to carry out this errand for several years now using just bags, but after a few close calls of breaking my neck on CTA stairs and generally wanting to make my life a little easier, I've decided to invest in a granny cart.

I've "test driven" a few carts and found them rickety, with flimsy wheels. Yes, generally I'm walking on sidewalks, but I guess I'm looking for the SUV of granny carts, with off-road potential, that would not collapse on me if I hit a pothole or curb or snow bank or as I'm hoisting it full up and down stairs or if I'm otherwise in a rush (basically the norm). Of course, it would be nice if my super granny cart also stowed away easily.

Does anyone have any recommendations? This cart, which is still in production, looks promising. I'm not completely unconcerned with cost, but I'm willing to invest in a good product--let's say less than $100. Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Here you go:

http://www.zuca.com/

Completely invincible and designed to get up and down stairs easily. (Esp. the Sport with extra wheels.) And it's a chair. Incredibly, Zuca hasn't yet marketed a fully insulated insert designed for hot and/or cold food, but they will, they will. The NYC/LON/CHI/SFO aspiring dancer-gourmet-subway/tube/L rider crossover market needs it.

You'll be cool with the kids.

HI,

There are number of Zuca's and their accessories on eBay.

Jeff may know better. It appears you could stack something top of the Zuca and bungy cord to secure for additional capacity.

Regards,

JeffB wrote:http://www.zuca.com/

Woah. Is this thing for real? I guess if Gordon Ramsay's wife uses one...

Cathy2 wrote:It appears you could stack something top of the Zuca and bungy cord to secure for additional capacity.

After a quick look, capacity is my main concern with the Zuca since I often don't have time to pack my groceries extra carefully to maximize space. Not that I ever carry more than one bird at once, but just to imagine, it looks like one chicken might take up half of the bag...or a large food processor, which I sometimes have to carry, all of it.

Um, not a granny cart - but remember the suitcase we filled with pineapples at Maxwell St Market? Obviously, it wasn't a brand name, but if you don't mind occasionally rinsing out the vinyl, it does quite nicely as a grocery-transport system; I like it because you can stand it on end or lean it and it has a number of handles depending on where you grab it from. The key: heavy plastic treads and a metal expanding handle. It has about the same capacity as the standard granny cart.

happy_stomach wrote:

JeffB wrote:http://www.zuca.com/

Woah. Is this thing for real? I guess if Gordon Ramsay's wife uses one...

Cathy2 wrote:It appears you could stack something top of the Zuca and bungy cord to secure for additional capacity.

After a quick look, capacity is my main concern with the Zuca since I often don't have time to pack my groceries extra carefully to maximize space. Not that I ever carry more than one bird at once, but just to imagine, it looks like one chicken might take up half of the bag...or a large food processor, which I sometimes have to carry, all of it.

They are real and are really sturdy. Capacity is larger than it looks (a chicken wouldn't put much of a dent) and as Cathy mentioned you can basically double it by adding an accessory bag on top. The wheels are good roller blade-type things, but larger. The extra set makes pulling the thing up stairs easy. It's basically indestructible luggage, which at 130 bucks is relatively very cheap. The article about GR's wife misses the point that every (girl) skater, dancer, cheerleader in the US has one of these things to hold their equipment, or will have one soon.

Not as fancy and probably not as sturdy but we saw a cart at Sam's Club today that was basically 2 milk crate sized cubes, stacked attached to a light weight dolly. The dolly was aluminum framed and the wheels were about 6". It cost $21.95 and was in the office supply section.

Mhays wrote:Um, not a granny cart - but remember the suitcase we filled with pineapples at Maxwell St Market?

How could I have forgotten that?! And if the experience with pineapples wasn't enough, I saw a similar suitcase in action today with a guy selling tubesocks on my bus. It does, indeed, look easy to hoist and stand and get into.

I'm going to try and find someone with a Zuca that I can inspect. I believe that it's indestructible, but I would just like to see in person all of the bells and whistles before I make the investment.

LikestoEatout wrote:Not as fancy and probably not as sturdy but we saw a cart at Sam's Club today that was basically 2 milk crate sized cubes, stacked attached to a light weight dolly.

Thanks. I believe in simple solutions, so I'm willing to consider a range of possibilities.

That Zuca looks sharp. But have you thought of using just a suitcase on wheels? I have a number of somewhat road weary wheeled backpacks and various suitcases from when I traveled for my job frequently and I now just use them for transport if I need to lug something. They are black and not as grannish as a granny cart and can serve dual purposes if you need to use them for travel again. They completely conceal the contents of what you are transporting and are kind of cushiony in some cases so things will arrive secure.

Believe me I'm familar with the granny cart. Way back in the late seventies when we had the big snowstorm that snarled up Chicago I lived at Cornelia and Halsted and had to tote my groceries from the Treasure Island down two blocks to our apartment in a granny cart as we could not get our car out to go grocery shopping as it was buried for a while. Of course we didn't have suitcases on wheels then. On the other hand, you might look strange in a grocery store with a suitcase to transport groceries.