Sub-zero scores for ‘tacky’ Arctic Village as stallholders pull out

The village – housed under a large marquee on the Weighbridge – includes ten chalets for local traders in a Christmas market zone, as well as an ice-skating rink, arcade machines, food stalls and a Santa’s grotto.

Michelle Price, owner of Lulap Jewellery, has been running her stall in the market zone since the beginning of December and failed to sell anything in one six-hour period earlier this week. She said: ‘It is still a bit slow and by next week three of the chalets are going to be empty. I’m not going to pull out because I have paid to be there – I have spent a fortune on my chalet. ‘I can see how people think the Arctic Village is tacky. If it hasn’t worked then it hasn’t worked, but everyone has tried their hardest.’

The Jersey Development Company has confirmed that three of the businesses have decided to stop trading, as they were making so little profit.

JDC office manager Sally Le Cornu said: ‘Three traders have pulled out for this week coming, which runs from Thursday to the following Wednesday.

‘One of the traders had been in the village from the start, which unfortunately is not when the market was busy. They have decided to pull out because it has been too quiet.

‘There is a huge amount of financial cost for the stallholders and many of them didn’t want to be involved. This year the local market is open all day. Unfortunately not all local stallholders can open to those hours due to their other work commitments.’

The JDC has said the market will be at full capacity from 15 December.

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