JAMAICA OBSERVER CELEBRATES FASHION’S NIGHT OUT (FNO) 2011 presented the best opportunities for smart shoppers to buy all that they wanted and still save money.

Not only did shoppers at Portmore Mall and the Town Centre Plaza benefit, but participating stores benefitted a great deal as well.

TEENage managed to be there from before the crowd descended and was able to watch Portmore Mall transform from empty and dull in the daytime to vibrant and alive with bustling bodies in the night. Music could be heard on almost every corridor.

The LIME DJs, while advertising products and encouraging buyers to go inside, set the right vibe with their music for shoppers.

We also managed to speak with some of the store owners to see what they expected the night’s outcome to be like and many had one thing in common, they all hoped that as the night progressed things would pick up.

When asked what she thought the outcome for her store would be Diana from B&P Fashions replied: “Well, I just hope that we have a lot of people coming in and we hope it will be an outcome that we are looking for.”

By the time TEENage had reached to Debbie’s Catwalk business seemed to be in full swing and it was the same sight when we reached around to Tinga’s Discount, sales clerkes were in busy with clients, either helping the choice or cashing their selections.

Around eight o’clock when TEENage went around to those stores that had a slow start business had picked up significantly.

What was great about Fashion’s Night Out was that not only did they have clothes’ stores participating; but pharmacies, electronic stores and even herbal stores were participating as well. The Natural Herbal Store’s manager, Pastor Errol Right, was positive that the night’s outcome would be good.

Later on in the night a few eager TEENage shoppers, Denzel and Samantha who had arrived only shortly before, were window shopping but told TEENage that they expected to buy as well, their interest was not only clothing, but school supplies too.

A few girls, Amoy, Camara and Collette, who had already started their shopping, seemed pretty pleased with the deals the stores were offering. We asked them how the FNO experience had been so far and their responses were all positive. Amoy stated “Well, trust me it nice”, and further went on to say that items were really cheap in most stores.

But not only did FNO participating stores benefit from the crowd but also those who weren’t participating.

If it weren’t for the fact that FNO participating stores were labelled, then passing outside many other stores you would’ve been tempted to go in.

J & J Fashion had signs advertising the sales offers posted all over their walls. The crowd that was seen could’ve been credited to the event, but the manager thought differently and told us that it was their ‘usual crowd’.

Apart from stores inside the mall, vendors on the outside were greatly benefitting from the FNO crowd as well as restaurants both inside and out.

However, not everyone was happy with the fact that FNO was only in the night and not the whole day. ANS Hats and Variety Store was brimming with customers but manager Christine Simpson was not happy.

When TEENage asked her how the event was so far she replied with a yes, but further went on to say that her first sale for the day was at 5:15 pm, after FNO had started.

Before five o’clock people only came in to look and then left and she says it had been that way all week as they were waiting on this one night. TEENage asked her what she thought the outcome for tonight would be and her response was “Well, I don’t really know… As you can see, the store is full but the machine not dinging.”

Overall it seemed that many people were having a good experience at FNO; except for a few, everyone had a positive response. Shoppers could browse the stores feeling safe as police patrolled the corridors regularly and despite the fact that it was a Thursday, ‘school night’ TEENagers in school or not came out in their numbers!

— Di-Andra Brown