It’s almost summer and that time of the year again: the time when stores turn on the air conditioning. I’m all for air conditioning, but I dislike how cold many stores are in the summer. The majority of people, including myself, dress for the weather. In the summer I often wear shorts and a tank top. It’s a welcome relief to walk into a store and get a blast of cold air, but I dislike getting goosebumps while shopping because I’m so cold. I know grocery stores have to keep the dairy and meat sections cool, but it baffles me why other stores and malls are so cold.
The same is applicable in the winter. Most customers walk into stores during the winter wearing long sleeve shirts or sweaters and coats, myself included. Usually the stores are so warm that by the time I get halfway through shopping, I am usually getting hot and irritated, and I don’t want to spend any more time or money there.
I don’t understand why they can’t set the thermostat a couple of degrees higher during the summer and lower during the winter. This would make the shopping experience more enjoyable for the customers and make them spend more time in the stores, causing them to spend more money—which is what the stores really want anyway. It would also reduce the temperature shock for shoppers stepping out of the store, helping people to adjust to the climate better. Employees could then dress more appropriately for the weather as well. This would result in the reduction of energy costs for the companies, and be more environmentally conscious.
Considering all of this, I would think that the decision to adjust the thermostat would be obvious to companies. After all, they employ almost every other cost-cutting strategy they can.
