A store can be liable, but not simply because something fell. The customer has to show the store failed to use ordinary care under O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1, and that can turn on who stacked the goods and what the store knew about the display.
Falling merchandise cases split into two kinds:
- The store created the condition. An employee overstocked a shelf, or stacked heavy boxes loosely. Knowledge is easier to show here, because the store’s own people built the hazard.
- Someone else disturbed it. Another shopper pulled a box out and left the stack leaning. The question then is whether the store knew, or whether the leaning stack had been there long enough for a reasonable inspection to catch it.
Georgia’s framework is Robinson v. Kroger (1997): the plaintiff shows the owner’s knowledge of the hazard, and the owner may then show the plaintiff had equal knowledge or failed to use ordinary care. Those are normally jury questions, except where the evidence is plain.
A customer who reaches for a box at the top of an unsteady pile may be assigned part of the fault under § 51-12-33. At 50 percent or more, § 51-12-33(g) bars recovery.
If this happens, ask that an incident report be written, photograph the shelf before it is restocked, and keep the item if the store lets you. Video may be overwritten, so a written request to preserve it should go out quickly. Injury claims carry two years under § 9-3-33.
General information about Georgia law as of November 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.