As temperatures soar, open doors at stores fuel energy waste debate
As a relentless heat wave grips Korea, stores in the country’s busiest shopping districts are keeping their doors wide open, blasting air conditioning to draw in heat-weary passersby. The practice, locally known as “open-door cooling,” is drawing renewed scrutiny as temperatures soar and concerns mount over energy waste and environmental impact. Around 1 p.m. in Myeong-dong’s downtown shopping district, where temperatures hovered near 36 degrees Celsius, nearly every shop along a 300-meter stretch near Myeongdong Station — 50 out of 54 stores surveyed — kept their doors open, blasting out air conditioned air that spilled onto the sidewalks. “It’s too hot, let’s take a break in here,” a passerby in her 30s said to her companion, pointing at a nearby Olive Young health and beauty product chain store. “I needed a new eyeliner anyway.” Lee, 45, who runs a food shop in the district, said there is “a 100 percent difference between keeping the door open and closed.” “If we keep the doors closed, customers just don’t come in, especially in this sweltering weather.
