PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Have you gone to a grocery store lately and wondered where all of the shopping carts are?

One KOIN 6 News viewer contacted us about a situation involving a lack of carts at the Oregon City Fred Meyer. She couldn’t find any to use — and store management told her that people in nearby homeless camps have been taking them from the store.

Management said they were down 130 carts. How do they get those back?

According to Fred Meyer, the store uses a “cart retrieval service” from Northwestern Food Merchants.

Many grocery stores across the state will call upon Northwestern Food Merchants, whose goal is to pick up carts within 72 hours of a request being placed.

The organization says the Oregon City Fred Meyer is being hit especially hard.

“We have noticed an increase in loss and stolen carts over the last two years, especially in the Oregon City area with the rise of new homeless camps,” A spokeswoman for Northwestern Food Merchants said, in part. “The pressures of these camps have presented new challenges to cart retrieval — both sanitation and safety.”

Call Northwestern Food Merchants’ 24-hour toll-free hotline at 888.552.2787. You can also report missing carts and find more information on their website here