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Lynn Anne Miller spends a majority of her time in Bethesda. She's a long-time resident, runs the marketing firm 4GreenPs on Cordell Avenue, blogs for OrganicMania.com and volunteers for Bethesda Green. She likes to shop on Bethesda Row. But when she heard about some stores' open-door policy, she was appalled.

"Obviously, if they're doing that it's a horrible practice," Miller said, referring to stores in Bethesda that frequently prop their front doors open during the dog days of summer while running the air conditioning. "Bethesda residents are aware that this is not an environmentally-friendly policy and [the businesses] are hurting themselves."

Environmentally-friendly or not, it is bottom-line friendly.

Giovanni Medrano, the manager of Assaggi Mozzarella Bar, keeps the door open to attract lunchtime diners.

"When it's extremely hot we try to keep it closed," Medrano said. "It's just to attract the patrons. Because sometimes they just walk by and don't know that we're open."

Bethesda Green, a nonprofit that works with businesses and community members to start green initiatives such as energy conservation, encourages business owners to think twice about relying cool blasts of air to entice shoppers.

"We would suggest putting a sign on the door saying ‘Open and Cool Inside,' " spokesman Dave Heffernan said.

"A business likely keeps its door open to welcome customers in their store, especially important in hard economic times," he said. "However, that kind of practice may also have the opposite effect of driving potential customers away because they value energy conservation."

The doors of Lou Lou on Bethesda Lane are kept open one at a time and for short time intervals, said manager Kelly Wilson. But on July 30, both doors were open wide.

"We want to keep it cool in the store but make it more inviting for people to come in," she said.

Kathryn Allen, a Chevy Chase resident and Bethesda Row shopper, is not bothered by the breezy blasts of wintry air.

"Shop owners need to have people come in. It's about the economy too," Allen said. "It's much more inviting to shop with the door open."

Several other stores that prop doors open, such as lululemon athletica, Urban Chic and Discovery Galleries Ltd., declined to comment.