The heatwave is the talking point of the nation, with weather pundits forecasting Sunday to be the hottest day ever recorded in Britain.
In response to soaring temperatures across the UK the store manager of a London branch of Iceland supermarket is offering customers the chance to escape the heat of the sweltering London streets with a thoughtful innovation.
Evan Shahriar, manager of the Iceland’s Islington supermarket (on Chapel Market) has created a customer ‘chill-out zone’ in the freezer aisle. The inspired installation includes deckchairs, a cooling spray and complimentary ice lollies. The store is also offering chilled water bowls for customer’s dogs and even a doggy sun tent – to give those tiny paws some relief from hot pavements.
The phenomenon of customers flocking through the doors of the frozen food retailer during hot spells has been well observed by Iceland store managers over the years. Shoppers have been known to pop in for a few minutes to cool down with an icy blast from the in-store aircon or momentarily opening a freezer cabinet door for some sub-zero respite.
Research by the brand reveals that (58%) of Brits have gone into a supermarket freezer aisle to cool down when the weather is too hot.
Ingenious Brits also cite soaking feet in bowls of iced water (41%), drinking a hot drink (33%) and using bags of frozen peas (27%) as creative ways of cooling down.
Store manager Evan Shahriar at Iceland Islington, said: “Over the last week we’ve spotted dozens of shoppers popping into the store just to cool down. Who can blame them? So we decided we might as well go the extra mile and create an official chill-out zone so they don’t need to feel guilty. The response has been amazing.’
A spokesperson at Iceland said “We always want to deliver the very best service to our customers and this unique initiative that has been rolled out in the Chapel Market store is a great example of our store staff going above and beyond for their local community.”
