Is there a reason why shops are turning their air con temperature up to full?

Has anyone else noticed this trend in shops? TK Maxx are by far the worst offenders, the have the thermostat at a really high temperature that makes it really uncomfortable to be in the store. I've had to leave a few times as it starts to get irritating, and the last thing I want to do it shop.

I noticed it again today in a Meteor store, there was a blast of hot air that really annoyed me. It surprised me how quickly I became grumpy in an uncomfortably hot environment. All I could think of was Michael Douglas in the movie Falling Down. (Thankfully, I resisted the temptation to engage in a psychotic killing spree, although I did tut quite loudly at one point when an old woman was taking too long in the queue.)

Is this some sort of new marketing trick to irritate shoppers so that their logical thought process (the enemy of impulsive buying) is disrupted?


Or am I just a cranky old fart now?