Fashion Over Cash...

Packed parking lot and crowded sidewalks at The Village Plaza on FNOJa

... Or is it cash over fashion? Well whichever it was, people were certainly out in their numbers for the Jamaica Observer's Fashion Night Out Jamaica (FNOJa) on the eve of September 10, 2010! The Constant Spring shopping area was a buzz with eager crowds pacing the floors of the stores and sidewalks of the shopping plazas. Traffic was thick, and parking was only a figment of the imaginations of drivers who arrived after 6:00pm! It seemed as if the entire Kingston metropolitan area descended on the shopping strip.

Customers inside Jewelry Collection Twin Gates Plaze

A very packed Ammar's Village & Mall Plazas

From all indications FNOJa as a great success for the stores who participated in this event as all stores were seeing more than their regular customer count. This was even more evident with stores like Collectibles and Xtras, which had to be letting in customers on a phased basis, customers who were already in endless lines at the doors of these establishments. This was just more than browsing customers in many of the stores, especially with the ones that were actually having a reasonable discount of 30% and up. I recall seeing the cash registers at quite a few of the stores being swarmed by eager customers making their discounted purchases.

Customers lined up at the entrance of Collectibles waiting on their turn to enter the store.

Some establishments employed creative ways to lure customers into their places of business and to advertise their services. Bling Bling had live mannequins in their store window which drew quite a large crowd of curious onlookers. In Motion Fitness Centre hand representatives dancing and giving out flyers, while the LIME store had a large screens and neon lights at the entrance of their store. Some stores certainly went the extra mile to get customer in and some certainly benefited from their participation in FNOJa. However, not all benefited greatly as the stores at Devon House seemed to be devoid of customers, which were sucked in by the hub of commercial activity brewing at the Constant Spring shopping plazas. Nevertheless, they still seemed to be happy with being a part of the event.

Shoppers looking at live mannequins at Bling Bling.

A dancer promoting In Motion Fitness Centre

The Impressive entrance at the LIME full service store.

The crowds seen at the stores in the plazas along Constant Spring road was certainly huge, so much so, it seemed even bigger that the crowds seen in the days before Christmas! One thing is for sure, FNAOJa seemed to be a success for the organizers and the participating stores... and maybe even for the consumers! This definitely looks like an event that will be returning next year as shoppers are always on the hunt for cheaper prices.