SHUT THAT DOOR!
Heat maps show how stores are wasting millions
‘Government must be firmer’
HIGH Street stores are wasting millions of pounds worth of energy through their heating systems by leaving their doors open in freezing temperatures, an investigation has revealed.
Experts said the practice – used to entice passing trade – is pushing up costs for consumers and damaging the environment as shops with open doors use more heat.
The Daily Mail found that eight out of ten flagship stores on Oxford Street in London either wedge their doors open or have completely open shop fronts.
An infrared camera, which indicates temperature levels, showed heat seeping from almost every shop on a day when temperatures barely reached 3C (37F).
Topshop, Clarks, JD Sports and the cosmetics firm Lush were among those guilty of opening up their entire shop fronts.
MPs have demanded that the Government crack down to end the damaging practice, which is thought to cost retailers £1billion a year.
The investigation found that instead of doors many shops use shutters that are only closed overnight. Others have their doors open the whole day in order to make stores look more welcoming.
Wide-open doors were found at almost every shop on Oxford Street including Primark, O2, Zara, Apple, Russell and Bromley, Superdrug and New Look.
Among the worst culprits was Body Shop, which trades on its green approach.
Lush also had high levels of heat seeping out, despite saying on its website: ‘Environmental issues are at the heart of the company and trickle through to the decisions we make on a daily basis.’
Even staff at its Oxford Street store questioned why it had a completely open shop front, with one saying: ‘It is a bit hypocritical.’
Both O2 and Lush said doors were used at the discretion of individual store managers.
Fashion retailer H&M reduced its energy usage by 8 per cent between 2007 and 2010 and is said to have a closed-door pol- icy. But its Oxford Street shop’s doors were wedged open during last week’s cold spell when temperatures were near freezing.
The waste was in stark contrast to Selfridges and Marks & Spencer, which operate a closeddoor policy. The camera showed Selfridges’ revolving doors were the most energy-efficient.
Labour MP Anna McMorrin, who sits on the environmental audit committee, suggested planning laws could be revised to ensure retailers get permission to trade only if their stores had doors that could be closed.
‘The Government needs to be much firmer in what they are saying to retailers,’ she said.
The Flir camera system detects infrared energy and converts it into an electronic signal to produce a thermal image.
Spokesman Ruud Heijsman said: ‘The thermal palette has been adjusted to visualise colder objects in blue colours and warmer objects in orange and yellow. It helps you see how the shops that don’t have doors lose heat at a significant rate, meaning they will require more energy to keep the inside of the store to a satisfactory temperature.’
A 2010 study by Cambridge University shows shutting doors cuts a shop’s carbon dioxide emissions by ten tons a year, equal to three return flights from London to Hong Kong.
Mark Todd, of energy switching website Energy Helpline, said: ‘If a store has very high energy costs they are more than likely going to pass that on to the consumer in the prices they charge for their products.’
Clarks, which had an open shop front, said it had reduced emissions by 17 per cent last year, but a spokesman admitted: ‘We want our stores to be welcoming environments… and in some areas the best way to do this is to keep doors open.’
While most of Primark’s stores have a closed-door policy, the Oxford Street West branch was an exception with an open entrance because ‘it is shutter operated’, a spokesman said.