LAST Thursday Montego Bay shared in Jamaica Observer’s Celebration of Fashion’s Night Out (FNO). And although the crowds were smaller than last year, the store owners were pleased with the sales.

Whitter Village

The participating stores at the Whitter Village saw few patrons, though Kerry’s had a beautiful array of hors d’oeuvres, the store saw few customers all night. The crowd at Watts New was no greater as the majority of the night saw children dragging their parents in to look at gadgets they wish to purchase in the future.

Though there was no ATL outlet at Whitter Village there was a display of the Honda City and CRV on sale at a reasonable price. Though there were no buyers, everyone passing by could not help but stop and inquire about the features of the vehicles and, of course, feel the comfort of the driver’s seat.

The live band playing for the customers all night attracted the most crowd at Whitter Village.

Downtown

Unlike last year, the traffic wasn’t as congested, but we saw a lot more higglers on the roadsides trying to get the Fashion’s Night Out customers to purchase items from their carts.

The first stop for TEENage was MK Mart, which was crowded, but not so many purchasers. Gabrielle, a bargain hunter told the TEENage: “I never came to buy anything; I just came to see what deals were offered and enjoy a night out before school.”

The wow deals were seemingly not enough to have the consumers spending.

David and Subs on the hip strip saw many persons stopping by on their way to other stores, but one clerk told TEENage that many regular customers came to pick up items they wouldn’t normally get thanks to the sale.

Fairview

Everyone expected Maxie’s Department Store to be the most crowded store and indeed it was. It attracted different demographic groups who were shopping for various reasons.

Sinclair’s was TEENage’s next stop and though the crowd was scanty the vibe was great, the DJ ensured the customers at Sinclair’s Bargain Centre were entertained while shopping all night.

A store clerk told us: “Last year did bigger, more crowd did come out, but more people buy this year.”

Last year, Xtras was so crowded we could barely get in. However, they extended the sale hours by starting as early as 12 noon to allow an easier flow of bargain-hunting traffic.

Karen Cameron, the store manager, was grateful for the experience and being able to be on board the Fashion’s Night Out celebration for a third year. Though the crowd didn’t show it, the staff says the turnout was good and most persons who visited purchased at least one item.

“Staycie’s second year of FNO was more successful,” Staycie, the store owner told TEENage.

With the relocation of the store from Half Moon to Fairview, the event had a better opportunity to achieve the purpose of boosting consumer spending.

The first-time participating in FNO, House of Style hosted a large crowd of customers who were eager to get in on the deals for the night.

Payless saw a great crowd last Thursday with a majority of females shopping for family members. Paul Henry, the store manager, said “the crowd was similar to that of last year, but the sales seemed more”. He is looking forward to a bigger venture next time around.

Cellphones are a great part of fashion and LIME was prepared to wow consumers with their plans and phone deals. One of the promotion personnel in the store told us that the crowd was great and there was a mix of all age groups supporting their sales.

Another year of FNO ended great though there were less persons in the streets, most of the patrons went home benefiting from the great deals.

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