SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — A persistent late afternoon drizzle threatened a damper on the inaugural Observer’s celebration of Fashion’s Night Out in Santa Cruz.

But by dusk shoppers, mostly women but also a fair number of young men were converging in droves on stores at the eastern end of town.

For Maxie’s in Phillips Plaza, the shopping frenzy actually begun just before 5:00 pm.

“During the afternoon we were wondering where is the crowd,” said Andrea Wilson, store manager at Maxie’s. “Then round about five minutes to five there were suddenly like 200 people here and we were struggling to keep up,” a smiling Wilson told the Observer as shoppers continued to flow through the door at 9:00 pm.

She said shoppers had been enticed by discounts of 15-50 per cent off women’s and men’s clothing and shoes. “Every department is doing well… the people not just coming in they are actually shopping,” she said.

“This is far better than we expected considering it’s the first time in Santa Cruz… very lively, excellent,” Wilson said.

It was the same story for a number of other stores just east of the town centre, including Fashion ‘n’ Things, Big Buy, Fashion Authority and House of Style.

“Too much people, mi confused,” said a smiling woman as she pushed her way through the crowd at Big Buy with a shopping bag on her shoulder.

Pauline Smith, manager at House of Style, said business “really picked up” after 6:00 pm. “Dresses and blouses doing very well,” she said.

Shopper Kadine Pinnock delicately fingered her way through cotton dresses claiming the “prices are okay and the quality here at House of Style always good”.

At Fashion Authority there was hardly room to turn as Shanta Montgomery held up a tall, colourful dress against her body. “Good colour scheme, nice and shapely and its $600 off,” she said with delight.

For Tara White, manager at Fashion ‘N’ Things, it was a grand opportunity to offload. Staff struggled to cope as shoppers flocked to grab items, including blouses “down to $100 from $600 and $1,200”.

“Some things we just have to get rid of,” White explained laughingly.

Business was much slower further west in Santa Cruz. “We expected more traffic but we have still got an hour left,” said Aneika Dunkley, manager at Envelope Couture as she turned away to greet a new batch of young women pushing through the door.

It wasn’t all about apparel. At Singer’s, manager Desrine Williams said customers had been drawn by special discounts and “spot cash” discounts. “It’s gone very well, we have sold a good mix of furniture and appliances,” she said.