The Latest: Supermarket plans sleepover as Finland swelters

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Updated 9:58 am CDT, Thursday, August 2, 2018

MADRID (AP) — The Latest on the heatwave in Europe (all times local):

4:15 p.m.

A supermarket chain in Finland is inviting customers to spend the night at its air-conditioned store in Helsinki as Europe suffers through a heatwave.

K-Supermarket said on its Facebook page that patrons hoping to cool down could stay overnight at the northern Helsinki branch on Saturday and also get supper and breakfast on request.

Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat quoted operations manager Marika Lindfors saying the idea for the sleepover came from customers who "told me half-jokingly that it'd be a great thing to be able to sleep at a cool supermarket."

. . .

Apartments and homes in Finland are equipped to deal with the extreme cold and damp typical of the Nordic region, but few have air conditioning.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/article/The-Latest-EU-speeds-up-funds-for-farmers-amid-13125902.php

[niyad]

1. how thoughtful!!! can you see one of our chains doing somehing like this?

[unc70]

3. Actually I can see it happening here

Following hurricanes and ice storms in the Carolinas we have seen grocery chains make major efforts to provide services to their customers. Since most large stores have their own backup generators, they are one of the few places with reliable heating and cooling. Local stores also provided things like free bags of ice.

[busterbrown]

7. Yea and you better prepare for more and more

catastrophic storms...This is what our idiot president has done..

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-fuel-economy-standards_us_5b106b1ae4b010565aaa80e4

[heaven05]

4. no

[busterbrown]

6. With Trump's new standards on fuel regulations...

There's gonna be a ton of these types of weather patterns..

Did you read this?

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-fuel-economy-standards_us_5b106b1ae4b010565aaa80e4

[heaven05]

23. yes

the greed of the corporate trumpers is going to negatively affect us all, they included. I don't understand this suicidal quest for profit above survival.

[lame54]

20. We've sheltered people in our walk-in cooler during...

Tornado warnings

We provided snacks too

[niyad]

26. to be fair, now that you mention this, one of ours sheltered people during robert dear's rampage

at our Planned Parenthood (the supermarket is in the same complex)

[elmac]

2. Portuguese town of Beja is expected to see a peak of 47 degrees C, 117 f on Saturday.nt

[sandensea]

5. In Finland!

I had a friend from Finland years ago. It's so cold there for so many months of the year (or was), people will often sleep ouside if it's "just a few" degrees below freezing.

Beautiful place, so I've heard - though Finns themselves don't often think so!

Beautiful Helsinki - just don't tell the Finns!

[Maxheader]

8. Thanks for the pic..

Made a desktop background out of it...

[sandensea]

9. Glad you liked it, Max.

Definitely on my bucket list.

[Ohiogal]

12. I had the great fortune

to participate in a "summer student exchange" program in my youth and I went to Finland. It is beautiful and clean and the people are so nice. The photo above brings back some very pleasant memories. I still correspond with my Finnish friend after all these years! (too many to say, I'm afraid). And yes she said they all hate Trump!

[sandensea]

13. I don't doubt it. Thanks for sharing!

This article also reminds me of that segment in Michael Moore's Where to Invade Next, in which he lets Finns themselves explain how, in just a generation, they reformed their school curriculum - which used to be the like the cram-'em-and-exam-'em system we have in the U.S. - and thus brought their performance from near the bottom of the pack, to at or near the top.

"Our school system is designed to produce only working drones," a retired CIA analyst once told me. I'm not sure that was the original intent; but now that they see that that's the result, the Betsy DeVoses of the world will never allow it to change as long as they can help it. If anything, they'll try to double down.

Thanks again for the anecdote. Always good to get first-hand insights.

[tavernier]

27. I was there in February one year and saw snowflakes the size of my fist.

Even the locals were amazed.

When you go, don’t miss the church built inside of a hill. Actually quite warm without heating. Very interesting find.

Very expensive, though. Once you finish (haha) your tour, hop the ferry over to Tallinn, Estonia where the prices are really good, and the medieval architecture is truly amazing.

[sandensea]

28. Good to know. Thank you!

I remember seeing a photo of Tallinn in an 1980 National Geographic in which the medieval towers and church spires in the background contrasted with these depressing Commie blocks in the foreground.

I thought to myself: I'm sure the housing was sorely needed - but what were they thinking!

Thanks again for your reply and insights! Always appreciated.

[procon]

10. Smart marketing, good on them!

That's a business that is really connected with the community they serve. It probably cost them very little to help people and the resulting goodwill and positive news coverage will enhance their market identify and generate more customer interest.

[progree]

11. Do they have to show picture ID? Or only if they buy groceries? n/t

[ffr]

14. Finland heatwave forces reindeer to cool off with sunbathers at the beach

- ABC AU

[mysteryowl]

15. Fantastic!

A corporation that actually thinks of the people.

[appalachiablue]

16. K & R. Good for the Finnish supermarket! I can't see

Walmart, Costco, Amazon and other stores doing the same here in an extreme weather event. But who knows?

The mall is where friends went for a few hours to cool off in a 4-day power & a/c outage summer heat wave, 98 degrees, 6-7 years ago.

[saidsimplesimon]

17. Thank you, Judi

There are areas in the US and Canada where this is also true.

[BigmanPigman]

18. I have asked the stores' salesclerks, "Can I live here?"

tons of times in Phila and in CA. I guess everyone around the world in more alike than we think.

[Jopin Klobe]

19. Supermarket plans sleepover as Finland swelters ...

... sounds like the beginning of a very scary Sci Fi movie ...

[mysteryowl]

21. Fantastic!

How refreshing that a corporation would do something compassionate for people.

[marble falls]

22. Bet the Trump hotels all raised their rates.

[3Hotdogs]

24. I recall a story, years ago. A guy wanted to go to Helsinki. He went to a travel agent,

bought a ticket, went to J.F.K. where he walked down the jetway

and disappeared into Finair.

[bluecollar2]

25. I see what you did there...lol