What’s the Application of Glass Door Walk in Cooler in Convenience Store?
The Glass Door Walk in Cooler is a professional commercial refrigeration equipment that integrates large-capacity cold storage and product display functions.
It is not merely a “cold storage” where people can enter to store and retrieve goods; instead, through the glass doors, the internal products can be clearly seen, achieving the marketing effect of a “display cabinet”.
Due to the characteristics of glass-door walk-in cold storage, they are widely used in medium and large-sized convenience stores.
From a practical perspective, this specialized cold storage is a dual-purpose equipment in convenience stores, functioning as both a sales area at the front door and a replenishment area at the back door; that is, from the outside, it appears as a full-glass beverage display wall, and store staff can enter the storage area from the back to organize the goods without disturbing customers.
Now let’s elaborate on the specific application of this type of cold storage in convenience stores.
- What is the appropriate size of a convenience store for using glass door walk in cooler?
Suitable for:
convenience stores over 80 square meters, flagship stores, stores with high SKU of beverages/beer/drink products, stores that need a “beverage wall” as a visual attraction point.
Stores with high daily beverage turnover, requiring a one-time display of 300 to 1000 bottles, and having a 3 to 5 square meter replenishment channel in the back office.
Not suitable:
Small stores of 30 to 50 square meters. These small stores are better suited for vertical multi-door glass cabinets.
Pure open air display cabinets cannot replace (air display cabinets have a 30-50% higher energy consumption, but there is no resistance when picking up items, and they are suitable for showcasing single products as the main focus).
- What types of walk-in cold storage are widely used in convenience stores?
Based on our practical experience, most of the walk-in cold storage used in convenience stores have glass doors.
Some convenience stores also use cold storage without glass doors. For example, they are used to store some fresh fruits and other items.
In practice, what we do most is custom-made glass-door cold storage units. Since the size and structure of each store are different, custom-made cold storage units can be precisely arranged according to the structure of the store, and some special-shaped cold storage units can make full use of the space of the store.
According to the needs of storing different products, some convenience stores will specially build refrigerated warehouses for displaying and storing items such as DAIRY and DRINKS. Usually, they will have 2-3 separate freezers for storing ice cream and frozen foods.
Some will customize a combined freezer for refrigeration and freezing, with the freezing section used for storing ice cream, frozen foods, ice packs, etc.
- What should be considered when choosing a cold storage facility for convenience stores?
For different product displays, the temperature range settings and selections.
For beverages and dairy products, the main refrigeration temperature is 2~8℃ (for example: beer prefers 3~5℃, milk 2~4℃);
If ice cream is placed, there will be a separate freezer with a freezer door (-18℃ or below)
For different regions, the selection of glass door bodies.
1) If the store has air conditioning 24 hours a day, consider using non-heated glass doors.
2) In rainy and humid areas, a HEATED GLASS DOOR must be chosen.
3) If it is a freezer, to achieve a better display effect, the installation of anti-fog film is also a good choice.
Selection of refrigeration units.
For small cold storage facilities, top-mounted integrated units are highly suitable.
For cold storage with glass doors, most adopt split units (the unit is placed inside the cold storage while the compressor is located outside).
The refrigerant is mainly R404A, R448A/R449A.
The main units we offer are HEAT CRAFT and TURBO AIR.
- Daily Maintenance of the Backup Cold Storage in Convenience Stores
Opening Rules: For energy conservation, replenish the goods before the peak customer period to reduce frequent door-opening operations during business hours.
Fog Prevention Inspection: Clean the door seals weekly and check if the glass is condensing; replace the heating wire immediately if it is broken, and sales will be affected after three days of fogging.
Defrosting and Cleaning: The air-cooled system automatically defrosts, but inspect the dust on the evaporator/condenser once a month.
Summary
The walk-in glass-door cold storage has gained increasing popularity in convenience stores due to its unique dual-functionality, and is increasingly appearing in various application venues.
We hope this article will be helpful for your convenience store operations. If you have any new convenience store projects, please feel free to contact our professionals at any time.
https://www.artrefrigeration.com/products/door-insert
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