Air Curtain Merchandisers

Air Curtain Merchandiser Buying Guide

An air curtain merchandiser — also sold as an open air cooler or a grab-and-go case — keeps product cold behind a moving sheet of chilled air instead of behind a door. Customers take what they want without touching anything, which is why these sell drinks, sandwiches, salads and prepared food faster than a glass-door cooler in the same footprint. The trade-off is that the cold is held by airflow, so where you put the case matters as much as which case you buy.

Vertical, horizontal or dual-serve

• Vertical — three adjustable shelves at eye level, the standard for drinks, sandwiches and packaged salads at the front of a store or a café queue. Best merchandising per square foot of floor.
• Horizontal — a low, wide case you look down into. Suits produce, grab-and-go bowls and impulse items placed near a register, and keeps sightlines across the room open.
• Dual-serve (curved or square glass) — open air curtain at the front for the customer, sliding glass doors at the back for staff, with adjustable room / chilled / dual-zone operation. This is the deli-counter format: it merchandises like an open case but lets staff restock and serve from behind.

Curved glass or square glass

On the dual-serve models this is a merchandising decision, not a performance one. Curved glass is the traditional bakery and deli look and reflects less overhead light onto the product; square glass gives a squarer, more modern front and slightly more usable display depth at the top of the case. Both take the same shelving and hold the same temperatures.

Sizing and placement

• Width is the number to buy on. Cases here run from about 26" to 52". Measure the wall and the aisle in front — shoppers need room to stop and browse without blocking the walkway.
• Keep the air curtain out of drafts. An open case loses its cold to a door fan, an HVAC diffuser blowing across the front or a patio door. This is the single most common reason a correctly specified case fails a temperature check.
• Load to the fill line, not above it. Product stacked into the curtain breaks the airflow and warms everything behind it.
• Use the night curtain. Every model here has one. Pulling it at close cuts overnight run time substantially and is the cheapest efficiency gain in the category.

All Polarman models: LED lighting, digital temperature control, night curtain, free shipping in the continental US. Full capacities, amp draw and shelf dimensions are on each product page. Read the full open air cooler buying guide →