It promises to be a shopping bonanza this weekend as the Jamaica Observer Takes Style Out (TSO) returns for its 17th iteration, encouraging consumers to ‘Shop the Sales’.

The three-day shopping event from October 29 to October 31 will feature steep discounts and a special guest appearance by Trinidadian designer Robert Young of ‘The Cloth’.

Young was present at the launch event at the Jamaica Observer’s Beechwood Avenue headquarters on Tuesday, alongside the newspaper’s Senior Lifestyle Editor and TSO conceptualiser Novia McDonald Whyte, and a specially invited group of TSO sponsors and participating realtors.

TSO began as a direct offshoot out of the first Fashion’s Night Out in New York in 2009, created to get people shopping again after the economic downturn in 2008.

Even though Fashion’s Night Out in New York ended, the local event, committed to providing a night of genuine discounts to Jamaicans, has endured.

“When we talk about a sale, we’re talking about 50 per cent, 60 per cent, 70 per cent off, not 10 per cent and 20 per cent,” McDonald-Whyte explained.

“Fashion’s Night Out ended, but we continued, because it proved to be an economic booster in Jamaica,” she shared.

The scope of the event was emphasised by chief operations officer at Jamaica Electronic Transfer Services Limited (JETS Limited), Natalie Samuels Buckle.

“What I can say is that Takes Style Out is well embraced by the Jamaican shopping public. From where I sit, we see that Takes Style Out is a Richter-scale shopping event,” she explained.

JETS, the company behind the multilink debit card network which connects financial institutions across the country, is a key sponsor of the event alongside the National Commercial Bank (NCB) and Island Car Rentals.

Edmundo Jenez, Chief Executive Officer of JETS, maintained that retail has been recovering post Hurricane Melissa, driven by customers.

“We found that customers have been quite resilient. They’ve been able to bounce back, and we’re seeing it, just as we’ve mentioned before, the numbers are there,” he shared.

NCB Vice President of Payment Services and Digital Channels, Danielle Cameron Duncan emphasised the country-wide effect that the event has on the Jamaican public.

“Each sale is an opportunity to build a relationship, and each positive experience is a reason for a customer to return. That is what makes Takes Style Out valuable. It brings attention to businesses across Jamaica and gives them a platform to show customers what they can do,” she explained.

Cameron Duncan acknowledged the bank’s position in the consumer framework locally, including at Takes Style Out, noting that NCB processed over a trillion transactions for its merchants in the last financial year.

Emphasising the individuality and creativity of Jamaican style, Marketing Manager of Island Car Rentals Kerry Ann Harrison lauded the event.

“Takes Style Out is more than an event; it is an opportunity to celebrate individuality, to spotlight Jamaican talent, encourage creativity and to remind us that style belongs to everyone who has the confidence to own it,” she said.

Special Guest Robert Young also spoke to the Observer about fashion and individuality.

The mind behind fashion brand ‘The Cloth’, Young describes himself as an artist working with clothing. His pieces have been displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC, the Museum at FIT, New York and Savvy Contemporary, Berlin.

In commenting on fashion microtrends defined by the rapid-fire TikTok algorithm, from ‘clean girl’ to ‘old money’, Young commented on style and individuality, as well as its wider reflection of a people.

“I don’t have a style,” he said with a laugh, adding that “Style exists. Style is definable by the person. But also as a perception… We have to find our own style and slowly find it as Caribbean people. And that has to be decolonised…We have to find our own language to describe it. We have to find something else other than the word ‘style.’”

He urged Caribbean people to question the reasons behind why certain things become relevant and assess the catalysts of certain laws surrounding what is acceptable fashion in the region, from the way hair is groomed to what we wear.

“We have to ask, what do these styles represent, and why are we attracted to it?” Young shared,
Retailers in the room included Fontana Pharmacy, Onya’s Kloset, Dunns Electrical, Moda Home Goods, Haven Beauty House, Loud Fashion, Ammars, Sakred, SOHO, Signature Styles, and Clarks Original. The general consensus from the specially invited retailers was that the event serves as a good lead-in to the Christmas shopping season.

“Our customers really, really appreciate it, We have up to 50 per cent [discounts], and we’ll honour all three dates… overseas, they look for Black Friday. In Jamaica, we look forward to Takes Style Out,” Karen Smith D’Aguilar, of Signature Styles Clarks Originals, said. “We really, really appreciate Observer.”

Anne Chang of Fontana Pharmacy shared that the company even extends the sale by one day due to popular demand.

This year’s event will be supported by dozens of stores and businesses. The full list of merchants offering discounts will be published in the Jamaica Observer newspaper on Thursday.