Portmore Mayor Keith Hinds says Fashion’s Night Out (FNO) will provide a much needed boost to business in that St Catherine municipality next month.

The September 10 event will see hundreds of retailers in Portmore offering steep discounts for five hours, stimulating consumer activity in that sprawling city, located about 10 miles outside of the Jamaican capital, Kingston. Hinds, in full support of the event, described it is a “well needed shot in the arm” for the local economy.

“I’ve often said that my economic base has a shower in the mornings and leaves and go to another city to spend money,” noted Hinds.

“But here is an opportunity for the community of Portmore to start to engage itself in the local economy of Portmore and to recognise that spending your money within your local economy will advance your cause much better,” he said.

FNO is a global shopping spree organised by Vogue across four continents and 17 countries. The fashion initiative aims to “promote retail, restore consumer confidence, and celebrate fashion” according to Condé Nast, publishers of Vogue Magazine and will take place at the same time in the United States, Australia, China, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Russia, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and Jamaica.

FNO creators Vogue are endorsing this year’s version of the shopping event in Jamaica, organised by the Jamaica Observer, which will include retailers from Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Spanish Town and Portmore. The event will be staged from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm locally.

Portmore is home to the biggest mall in the Caribbean, and Hinds said that it’s indicative of the huge potential for business in that city. FNO, he said, will expose this potential.

“The truth of the matter is that we do have all the amenities that need to have that type of spending rolling in,” said the mayor.

Last year, FNO in Jamaica promised and delivered a five-hour respite from the doldrums of lacklustre sales and consumer reticence. Many retailers got more than they bargained for. Some had to implement last-minute control systems to filter the thousands who literally beat a path to their door on the promise of crazy bargains, sales galore and massive discounts, some as much as 75 per cent. Others sold out in a matter of moments.

The organisers are optimistic that this year will be even better.