Gatekeeper Share Discussion Threads

[arthurly] 11/11/2006 15:22

Posted on Tue, Nov. 07, 2006email thisprint thisreprint or license this
Stop that cart!
Stores turn to invisible fences to keep their buggies from strayingBy RICHARD STUBBE
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

SPECIAL TO THE STAR-TELEGRAM/RICHARD W. RODRIGUEZ
The Walgreens at East Berry Street and Miller Avenue in Fort Worth has used a GS2 system to contain its shopping carts for about a year. Store manager Chris King says the system has a perfect record.
More photosFor retailers, a disappearing shopping cart is not a neat trick. It's about as much fun as losing $100, which is what it can cost to replace the cart.

Now some stores in Tarrant County are deploying technology to keep the carts from rolling off. Gatekeeper Systems, a London-based company with U.S. headquarters in Irvine, Calif., said it has installed its GS2 system at some Walgreens, Family Dollar and Minyard locations.

The system is similar to the "invisible fences" used by pet owners. When the store's cart hits Gatekeeper's perimeter antenna, a back wheel locks up so the cart can't roll anymore. The other back wheel is equipped with a "tilt bar," so the cart won't roll on three wheels, either.

Renice Stewart-Pérez, a spokeswoman for Gatekeeper, said a 20-cart store typically pays about $5,000 for a system, although the price can reach $60,000 for a big-box retailer. Gatekeeper estimates that cart theft alone accounts for $200 million a year.

A Gatekeeper system was installed at the Walgreens at 6205 Westcreek Drive in late October.

"Shopping carts were growing legs and leaving," store manager Kevin Davis said. He estimated that the store had lost 25 carts in the six months before Gatekeeper was installed. He said store employees were making weekly trips around the neighborhood to collect carts, several of which they never found.

They're no longer scouring the neighborhood.

"I'm not losing carts," Davis said. Employees have had to "unlock" six carts using an electronic device that's part of the system.

Chris King, who manages the Walgreens at Miller Avenue and Berry Street in southeast Fort Worth, has had the system in place for about a year. He said Gatekeeper has a perfect record -- no problems operating the system, no complaints from customers and no lost carts.

"I haven't lost any of them for the year I've had them," said King, whose store has about 20 carts. "Everything runs smooth with it."

Walgreen spokesman Michael Polzin said the chain started installing the systems nationwide about two years ago. About 500 of Walgreens' 5,500 stores have a system from either Gatekeeper or rival Carttronics, he said.

"We look at the history of a particular store on how many carts they lose or get damaged," he said. "The ones that have a bigger problem with losing their carts are going to be the candidates.

"When you have as many stores as we do, a few carts here and there add up."

[scburbs] 07/11/2006 15:47

Masurenguy, Thanks I will have a look. I have been looking at RCG and LEAD already. Excellent potential albeit with a bit higher risk profile than my current portfolio.

[masurenguy] 07/11/2006 14:51

Hi scburbs - thanks for that summary.

My main holdings are RCG, TAN, LEAD, SDX, GME, CASH, AHT, HMS, CCT, GKR, PELE & SEY. I also have smaller holdings in about a dozen other stocks (mostly held in my SIPP) including some speculative blue skies like BPRG, TRT & AST. The first 5 on my list are well worth checking out.

TAN has more than doubled since I bought it earlier this year and RCG is up around 35% on my average price since I started accumulating it last autumn. Both of these shares have plenty of mileage in them and I would expect their share prices to reach 3 figures in due course. LEAD is a well established company in an important & growing Telecoms market niche and could get a boost over the next couple of months on some potential lucrative contracts in India.
SDX, HMS & GME are all in the oil services field which I expect to significantly grow over the next few years as the oil companies invest more in exploration. I'm also looking at a number of Chinese companies where the considerable potential has to be weighed against lower potential accounting standards.

I'll take a look at MEG and KWL when I've got a chance. See you around :-)

[scburbs] 07/11/2006 14:30

Afternoon Masurenguy,

In order of size AHT,CCT,RTD,FWY,MEG,KWL,GKR. Those are the major plays with a few smaller ones and a few shorts thrown in for good measure. RTD is a takeover waiting to complete so not much excitment there. Of the remainder (excluding AHT/CCT/GKR) I think MEG and KWL are the two I am looking to increase. KWL reports next week and has indicated markets are good, MEG reports at the end of the month and is on a very low rating for a recovering company. AHT is my favourite share as it is my longest and most profitable hold and one of my buys was at 2.78p! (although I had also purchased some the previous day thinking I had a bargain at 11p).

How about yourself, what else are you in?

[masurenguy] 07/11/2006 14:20

scburbs - been coming accross you more recently - we seem to have some stocks in common like GKR, CCT & AHT.

What else are you in ?

[wiganer] 05/11/2006 19:45

About as positive as it gets- good find!

[typo56] 05/11/2006 18:45

Quite a mention in the Indie yesterday.

[arthurly] 02/11/2006 16:10

Yep - CEO and Co Sec both ex Big 4 audit firms. Not conclusive but a good indication. Also I've seen them use the word 'ethical' in job ads.

[planetgong] 02/11/2006 15:54

thanks WJC - I certainly regard GKR as completely kosher.

[wjccghcc] 02/11/2006 11:06

planetgong, Reg S are shares of American companies that are unregulated by the SEC and therefore cannot be sold to any US resident. Because of their unregulated nature, many brokers won't let you deal in them without signing a specific form (can't remember the title of it) saying you're a sophisticated investor and know what you're doing.

While there are a lot of good Reg S companies out there, unfortunately most of the boiler room share scams also involve Reg S companies. Hence the general lack of interest for the sector.

[planetgong] 02/11/2006 10:42

Hi Wig, no, my name was just a bit of ancient memory - I have not listened to Gong since the seventies - sorry to have led you on :-)
Fine band though - really strawberry!

[wiganer] 02/11/2006 10:33

O/t
Are you going to the Gong UnConventional in Amsterdam this weekend planet?
I'd hoped to go, but can't now.

[its the oxman] 02/11/2006 09:17

wow, price has ticked up a fraction!!!

[scburbs] 24/10/2006 15:00

Kidney,

Lack of move is somewhat frustrating. However, it provides excellent opportunities for those of us who think GKR is significantly undervalued to build a more significant position. I am regularly routing funds as they become available to top up my position.

The key things with stocks like this is they can lie dormant for a long time, but when they move they move quickly. If you think the next move is down then best to get out, but if you think the company has good prospects then best to take advantage of the prolonged lull to top up. At the latest you probably only have to wait until January 2007 for the H2 trading statement. My guess is that there will be a significant move up on or before this statement.

[planetgong] 24/10/2006 11:55

Hi Wj - what's Reg S?

[wjccghcc] 24/10/2006 11:41

There's not a lot of sustained interest in Reg S shares. They're probably off the radar for most people given the bad reputation of boiler rooms pushing them (there was another article in the weekend FT about a woman who'd been sucked into a boiler room scam investing in another Reg S share).

[kidney] 24/10/2006 11:17

Brilliant growth possibilities yet the share price hardly moved on results and has been flat for the last two months.
Am amazed that these have become such dull shares to own.As there is so little interest in this company,I have decided not to top up.I cannot stand holding shares that hardly move.
lol to all patient holders.

[arthurly] 21/10/2006 12:36

No more putting the cart before the horse
By Melody Hanatani | Published 10/16/2006


Daily Press Staff Writer

CITYWIDE - When the Vons supermarket on Wilshire Boulevard celebrated its grand opening earlier this year, the store purchased 250 new shopping carts. Within three months, the carts were gone.

Over at Ralphs, 1644 Cloverfield Boulevard, an average of 10 shopping carts went missing every day.

That is, until about two months ago.

Both supermarkets have enjoyed a dramatic decline in stolen cart incidents since installing a high-tech, anti-theft locking device that activates a brake in the cart's wheel once it reaches the store's parking lot perimeters.

Just think of it as an electric fence for wayward shoppers.

"The problem is less than it used to be before we used the device," said Ralphs Manager Alberto Maldonado.

Since this summer, the new carts at Vons have come equipped with Gatekeeper System's GS2 locking device, which automatically activates a brake in one of the four wheels in the cart once it hits a precision boundary that is defined by cables embedded inside the parking lot surface.

The carts can be unlocked with a remote control cart key.

"Everyone can install these, from 99 Cents Only Stores to Wal-Mart and Target to Vons to Cost Plus World Market," said Renice Stewart, of Gatekeeper Systems.

According to Gatekeeper, an average shopping cart that lacks the anti-theft system can cost anywhere from $75 to $100. Retailers nationwide lose more than $200 million in shopping cart thefts every year.

In Santa Monica, the police department has recovered 63 shopping carts just since Aug. 1.

Stewart said the GS2 wheel blends in with the wheel and is not easily noticeable.

"Anyone who is not taking anything wouldn't even know it's there," she said.

According to Stewart, the cost to implement such a system can run anywhere from $5,000 to $60,000, depending on the number of carts, the size of the secured perimeter and the layout of the parking lot.

Santa Monica resident Marilyn Lewitt was pushing one of the anti-lock shopping carts at Vons on Friday afternoon. The loyal Vons shopper of 12 years said she has noticed other supermarkets have converted to the new carts.

"I don't blame the market because people take them and then the prices go up," she said. "It's not an inconvenience."

[arthurly] 20/10/2006 15:34

Trading update 29 Jan 2007. Probably give quite specific figures like last year.