Retailers who on Thursday slashed their prices for the Jamaica Observer’s Fashion’s Night Out (FNO) have reported earnings for the five-hour sale event of up to 200 per cent when compared to regular Thursdays.

While they did not divulge actual figures, all of those with whom the Sunday Observer spoke on Friday said sales skyrocketed past their usual levels, doubling and tripling in most cases.

“If we normally sold $100,000 on a regular Thursday, we did $300,000 last night,” owner of Xtra’s, Andre Harris, reported from New York.

Harris was one of more than 300 retailers who signed on to FNO – modelled after the Vogue event in New York and other fashion capitals, but which is not affiliated to it, and billed as the Observer’s economic stimulus package.

The retailers offered discounts of up to 75 per cent on merchandise between the hours of five and 10:00 pm Thursday.

Like many of the others, he admitted having modest expectations but sales were so good, he said, that FNO should become a regular retail event.

“We need (FNO) every week,” he said. “We did 300 per cent better than what we’d do on a regular Thursday and we needed it because business has been so slow. I don’t know what the other retailers are telling you, but we have been doing 30 per cent less business than we normally do and this year has been much worse than the previous ones.”

“Do you know when would be a good time to have another one?” asked manager of Singer at Mall Plaza, Carlene Dinald. “Same time next month,” she said, answering her own question.

Dinald said the droves of shoppers pulled by FNO were remarkable – comparable only to the week before Christmas – but, as other retailers also pointed out, not only did people show up, they also shopped, keeping cashiers busy all night.

“Thursday alone we saw a spike of 60 per cent in traffic and sales. It was absolutely wonderful; the discounts, the energy, the sales were all good. That’s all shoppers need, a little excitement to encourage spending,” she said.

“I have never seen it like this before. We don’t usually see this type of crowd until the last week of Christmas, not even on a hectic Saturday.”

For FNO, Singer offered a five per cent discount on cash purchases and seven per cent on hire purchase.

“Not only was the night a giant success from a crowd point of view, but it was an overwhelming success in terms of increased sales,” said Michael Ammar Jr, proprietor of the Ammar’s and Amart chain of stores. “I was always sure it would work in year two but never expected such a massive success in year one.”

“We were expecting a 20 per cent increase but we doubled what we normally would get on a regular Thursday so we’re very happy.

Ammar said the volume of goods his stores sold in the four hours between 5:00 and 9:00 pm (they closed an hour early), was at least equal to the amount moved between 9:30 am and 5:00 pm, the time the FNO sales kicked off.

“It was very, very good. It surpassed all our expectations,” he said.

Added Pauline Malek, the chain’s personnel manager: “Up to 10:30 pm we still had people in here. When we closed the doors at 9:00 people still wanted to come in.It reminded me a lot of Black Friday in the US where people line up from 12 o’clock at night to get in at 4:00 in the morning to cash in on specials.”

Black Friday, arguably the busiest retail shopping day in the US, falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving, which is regarded as the US’s biggest holiday.

Exceptional sales increases were also reported by Swiss Stores, which offered discounts of 20-50 per cent, and stores outside the central plaza district of Constant Spring Road such as Foot Candy in Manor Park, and Signatures Boutique on Dilcoosha Avenue. Foot Candy offered 10, 15 and 50 per cent off its stock while Signatures cut prices for FNO by 10 and 50 per cent.

“I’m looking at the figures now and compared to last week, I’d say we did 300 per cent better last night (Thursday night),” said Shereene Welsh, branch manager of Swiss Stores, Mall Plaza.

“Our sales last night tripled compared to a regular Thursday,” said Jean Wright who, along with sister Patricia Samuels, owns Signatures. “We used to have this kind of business back in the days before the fallout in the ’90s, but this is the first time in a long time that we have experienced this. It was like Christmas Eve. It did feel like a stimulus package,” she told the Sunday Observer.

Foot Candy owner Lisa-Gaye Chin reported: “We made three times the amount we would on an average Thursday and maybe one-and-a-half times what we would on a regular Saturday.”

For Child’s Play owner Andrea Lattibeaudiere, sales were nothing like they would be on Christmas Eve because of the usual emphasis on toys as gifts at that time of the year. However, she did report a 70 per cent increase over a normal Thursday.

“It was definitely worth it. It was really good from the exposure we got, not just the sales,” she said.

Appliance Traders Limited’s (ATL’s) Sales Supervisor Erica Bartley-Cooke was equally pleased with the response of the shoppers, which she described as “phenomenal”. At just minutes after 8:00 pm, ATL’s Mall Plaza branch had already sold three LCD television sets, each valued at over $100,000, plus washing machines and smaller appliances.

“Our only feedback was that customers were wishing that there was a higher discount on some items,” said Bartley-Cooke. “But taking 70 per cent off a pair of shoes is not the same as taking 70 per cent off a television set.”

At the Collectibles chain of stores, which had thick crowds for the entire evening, FNO prices went as low as $200 in the clothing stores and as low as $395 in the shoes stores.

“It certainly paid off and we did get the crowd,” said Andre Rose, one of the shoe store managers. “Thousands of people passed through. It was much bigger than Christmas Eve and I’ve been here for more than 10 years so I know what I’m talking about. It was the biggest crowd I’ve seen in a long time.”

“We closed at 10:00 but had people up to 11:20 pm,” said Rose as he carted boxes of new arrivals to the storeroom.

“We are restocking partly because of last night but it’s also because it’s the month-end,” he said.

Reflecting on the day, general manager of Xtra’s, Sandy Supersad, said she was particularly happy with the way things went because of how slow sales were during the day.

“For the whole day it was so slow, unusually slow for a Thursday. I think people were just waiting for the sale time to start before they came and then right about 4:30 pm/5:00 pm, they started coming, it was like an invasion on the plaza,” she said.

At Courts Jamaica, store manager Marjorie Daniels had to placate a shopper who wanted an easy solution to the parking problem. Daniels said Courts “had quite a bit of traffic” as a result of the price cuts. The furniture and appliance superstore served up the delicious offer of buying one item and getting the second item of equal or lower value half off, plus double free gifts.

Television sets, washing machines and appliances were the most frequent purchases up to 9:00 pm, Daniels explained. Customers could get a 32″ LCD TV for just over $68,000 and they recognised the deal. “People really caught on to it. I would say over 70 shoppers came through up to this time, maybe more,” said Daniels. “Any opportunity to bring the customer through the door is good for business. We couldn’t ask for a better response because of the head count.” Daniels, however, would like other Courts branches to be included in the next event, including those in areas with a dense population such as Portmore in St Catherine, along the Washington Boulevard, Downtown Kingston and areas out of town. She also recommended a three-day shopping spree with shorter hours, say 5:00-8:00 pm.

– Additional reporting by Alicia Roache