These units cost around $898 back in the 50's which is comparable to over $16,000 today. If a grocery store was to get their money back, kids would need to ride on it a total of 160,000 times which of course didn't happen especially since they broke down a good amount of time.
But that's not why these grocery stores bought the rides as it was just a way to bring moms to their stores. Which if you think about, at least where I grew up, there weren't a lot of grocery stores, and most people just went to the one closest to their house regardless of whether they had a ride or not. Back then, parents didn't care as much about what their children wanted as they do today. I grew up in the wonderful days of being told to be seen not heard. Good times. 😎