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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wish the shops weren't so overheated

103 replies

hiddenhome · 13/12/2011 16:45

Not so much shopping centres, but just the ordinary high street shops and supermarkets.

I venture out all muffled up then end up boiling in the shops. The opticians was 20 degrees yesterday and I had a wool jumper on Confused I know the staff have to be kept reasonably warm, but they're all pottering round in short sleeved shirts Hmm Why can't it be about 16 degrees or so and they can have sweaters on?

Sainsburys don't have heating on and it's fine shopping in there. Morrisons is as hot as the bars of hell Sad Just think of all the money they could save just by dropping it a few degrees.

AIBU?

OP posts:
randommoment · 13/12/2011 16:51

YANBU. It's one of the things that makes Christmas shopping even worse. Maybe we could allow extra heaters in the changing rooms in dress shops though!

halcyondays · 13/12/2011 17:07

Yanbu, I don't know why they do this, most people will have coats on and when you go into an overheated shop it is so off putting. I love shopping but when it is too hot in shops, it just makes me want to give up and go home.

OldBagWantsNewBag · 13/12/2011 17:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BrianButterfield · 13/12/2011 17:09

Drives me mad. Especially when you have a baby who has had to be manhandled into snowsuit/pram and ends up going beetroot after 30 seconds in the shop! It should be warm enough for the staff but it doesn't have to be like Hades in there.

lazydog · 13/12/2011 17:15

OMG - You think that's bad, you should try Canada!

You have the situation when it's -30C and below outside (so, obviously, you have to go out really bundled up in warm clothing) you get inside a store or shopping mall and, no joke, it's tropical in there. You immediately have to strip off to single layer so as not to pass out (with a t-shirt or vest top preferable to a long sleeved shirt, since it's usually about 26-28C!!) and then you have to lug all your layers and outerwear around, while struggling with your shopping.

If they could only make it 20C I'd happily leave all but my coat on and feel a bit warm while I shopped, but Canadians' idea of a comfortable shopping temperature is ridiculous...

ConnorCamden · 13/12/2011 17:45

YABU - think of the poor staff who work there. If they turned the heating down, the staff would freeze [works in retail]

valiumredhead · 13/12/2011 17:46

YANBU

OldBagWantsNewBag · 13/12/2011 17:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

randommoment · 13/12/2011 17:55

Connor what do you wear at work?

neversaidnuffin · 13/12/2011 18:16

YANBU.
It's just horrible. Especially if any movement is required.
Trying on boots in a shoe shop today, it seemed the little sit-on benches were so covered in people's discarded layers that there was no room for the arses of the shoe-tryer-onners. And bending down to pull on boots had sweat running down my forehead.

TroublesomeEx · 13/12/2011 18:25

It is horrible. I hate shopping at this time of year I hate shopping for this very reason. The constant shifting between being freezing and boiling mimics the symptoms of being ill very nicely so that by the time I get home I'm fit for nothing more than curling up on the sofa with a hot drink. Makes me feel lousy Sad

OddBaubles · 13/12/2011 18:46

YANBU, there is no good reason to have shops so warm, it would be quite easy to make retail uniform warmer (I used to work in retail).

TiaMariaandDietCoke · 13/12/2011 19:18

YANBU - hate this, especially when I'm out doing a christmas shopping blitz - lugging around eleventy billion bags of pressies with my arms ready to fall off and then having take off my coat and layers in every bloomin shop and carry them too, or risk passing out from heat exhaustion!

Agree with FolkGirl too - it makes me feel ill too at times!

Original poster
hiddenhome · 13/12/2011 19:46

Conner nobody is going to freeze at about 17 degrees. What about giving the staff fleeces or something? In Sainsburys they just wear a couple of layers and certainly don't look cold.

It's bad for the health to go from being too warm to cold to warm to cold etc.

OP posts:
Original poster
hiddenhome · 13/12/2011 19:47

The women in the opticians had short sleeves! Ridiculous.

OP posts:
Panzee · 13/12/2011 19:49

M&S do this. I hate it. You have to take all the layers off babies and the heat just makes me annoyed.

Original poster
hiddenhome · 13/12/2011 19:51

You'd think they'd want to save money on heating. Surely, the people who make the decisions must visit shops and feel the same way about being overheated? Or, are they dead posh and don't go out shopping? Confused

OP posts:
GwendolineMaryLacedwithBrandy · 13/12/2011 19:53

YANBU. Mothercare is the worst for this. Last weekend there were a couple of fainting women in there and one of them is usually me. I hate it.

Esta3GG · 13/12/2011 19:53

YANBU
I hate overheating in shops. And I hate having my brain fried by shit music.
No wonder retail is going under.

MistletoeAndPinot · 13/12/2011 19:54

Connor don't be a plonker. 16/17 would be fine.

YANBU and I always always moan about this

SantasNutellaFairy · 13/12/2011 19:58

Uniform has to be worn year around, therefore short sleeves make better sense financially for any business that provides uniform for it's staff, than having to fork out for 2 sets of uniform. Plus, we are not supposed to wear anything other than provided uniform on the shop floor. We have fleeces, but they are only for stock room work/ going to the bins etc.

YABU. In the store where I work, there is just 2 degrees difference between cold, acceptable and roasting alive. I work with a bunch of freezers who insist on the heating being at it's highest acceptable setting.

Kladdkaka · 13/12/2011 19:59

16/17 would be the minimum temperature according to HSE guidelines for workers engaged in heavy physical labour. It would not be fine for shop workers. It would be unlawful.

BrianButterfield · 13/12/2011 20:00

Yes, it's perfectly possible to have shops at a temperature that is fine for both shoppers and staff - my local supermarkets do it. Staff are either in shirt sleeves, so some of them must be warm enough, or uniform fleeces which don't seem bulky or inconvenient. Plus I spend longer in there because I'm not desperate to leave so I spend more!

LikeAnAdventCandleButNotQuite · 13/12/2011 20:12

This is why I shop in shopping centres at this time of year. I race out to my car in a little cardie, race into the centre, and them am the right temperature all trip. Wouldn't dream of High Street/City Centre shopping in this weather for purely this reason.

Obviously, this is not an option for thos who do not live near in andoor shopping mall.

In the summer, I like to shop on the High Street / City Centre as it's nice and warm and the shops / streets usually the same temperature.

LikeAnAdventCandleButNotQuite · 13/12/2011 20:13

*those
*indoor

sorry Blush