"Attention Shoppers!"
(Syracuse, N.Y., April 29, 2002) -- In countries all over the world, people often take a break from the warm summer weather by heading indoors to shop at a mall or boutique. However, it wasn't always that way. In the early 1900s, shoppers had to go outdoors to escape the summer heat. The owners of Detroit's J.L. Hudson department store wanted to keep their popular "bargain basement" sale days going during the summer months, but the frantic pace of shopping in the heat caused many shoppers to faint. Although the shoppers' wallets may have been better off under these circumstances, the shoppers themselves faded fast in these conditions. But this was all about to change.
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The storeowners had heard about a new "centrifugal refrigerating machine" invented by Carrier only two years earlier. They asked for Carrier's help, and in 1924 the basement of Hudson's was successfully cooled by a Carrier centrifugal. Later, Hudson's expanded the cooling system to cover the first three floors and eventually the entire sales space. So if shoppers fainted, it was because they couldn't believe the sale prices, and not because of heat exhaustion!
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Macy's world-famous New York store installed a centrifugal chiller air conditioning system in 1929 and it soon became a big draw for patrons who wanted to shop in comfort. Macy's knew the cooler environment would be a relief to summer shoppers -- they didn't think customers would ever want to leave the store. An early advertisement entitled "Pleasant Dreams" addresses this issue. It reads: "Come at 9:30 and stay until 5:30, but don't ask to spend the night. We'd understand how you'd want to. We want to ourselves. It's so cool here we've been tempted many times during the hot spell to snuggle down beside an escalator and catch up on our sleep. But it can't be arranged... we just have to remember that in a few hours morning will come and bring with it another cool Macy day."
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In 1936, Japan discovered the comfort of air-conditioned shopping when Carrier installed systems in the Juichiya Store located in Nagoya. Today, shopping mall complexes are found the world over and serve as cool respites from hot weather.
So when summer approaches and you hit the stores in an attempt to keep cool, remember that if it weren't for Carrier innovation, your shopping trip may not have lasted long enough to buy anything. Except for maybe a fan
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