Sticker shock? No, but static zaps shoppers.

Byline: ED RUSSO The Register-Guard

Is this a shopping cart or a shocking cart?

Customers are asking that question as they ply the aisles of Eugene's new Target store.

Shoppers, especially those using Target's metal-framed, metal-handled carts, are getting zapped by charges of static electricity. The problem - common in new buildings with synthetic floor coverings - has plagued the store on West 11th Avenue and Belt Line Road since it opened two weeks ago.

"Every time we come here I get shocked," shopper Christy Hogan said Monday. "I was touching a lotion dispenser with one hand, and I was hanging onto the cart with the other hand. The shock went through one hand and went out through the other. "I said `Damn,' and my daughter said, `Mommm!' '

The problem is so pronounced that shoppers gripe about it openly. All the zapping forced the building's electrical contractor to search for the cause, and Target managers to seek a solution.

A naturally occurring phenomenon, static electricity is an imbalance of positive and negative charges caused by friction, such as walking across a floor. It often is noticeable when humidity is low and people move on synthetic surfaces, such as carpets or car seats.

Target manager Tim Snow said the store's new carpeting is generating static electricity that seems to be attracted to customers who push the carts. As a solution, the retailer has ordered $1,500 worth of anti-shock "kits" to attach to the store's 400 shopping carts, Snow said. He said he wasn't sure how the kits work or when they will arrive.

The shocks are startling and irritating some customers. But they're not dangerous, even to those with pacemakers, Snow said. "You can't be hurt by it," he said. "It's just an inconvenience."

The problem generally dissipates as buildings age, Snow said. "It wears off, but this time not quick enough," he said.

It hasn't hurt business, he said. Between 2,500 and 3,500 people visit the store daily, Snow said, and he hears "a couple of complaints a day."

Maryjane Vielhauer, an employee of anti-static products maker ElectroStatics Inc. in Harleysville, Pa., said it's possible Target will outfit its carts with a small metal chain or bar to "drain off" the static instead of allowing it to discharge through people.

Other remedies include anti-static carpet sprays, soaps and floor waxes, she said. Some stores even put anti-static compounds on the wheels of shopping carts.

The low humidity that fosters static electricity typically occurs in winter and indoors where air is heated, Vielhauer said. She said she regularly gets calls from shopping center owners about static electricity bothering customers.

With the prevalence of synthetic floor coverings and synthetic-soled soles, which do not dissipate electrical charges, Vielhauer said, "it's getting to be more and more of a complaint."

Angie Griffith of Eugene stopped by Target on Monday to check prices. She didn't use a shopping cart and didn't get shocked. But Griffith recalled when she used a cart a few days after the store opened. After repeatedly setting off fingertip charges on items and on her 2-year-old daughter, she pulled the sleeves of her coat over her hands to clutch the metal handle of the cart.

"Even when I would do this, I would get shocked," she said, demonstrating with her sleeves. "I got shocked a ton."

Still, Griffith said she will continue to visit the store. "I'm a thrifty shopper," she said, brandishing her list of prices.