Twelve months following the start of the Love Shopping Love Thursdays trial, town centre manager Daphne East says that only about 20 shops keep their doors open until 7 pm.
Mrs East says encouraging more retailers to sign up to the scheme is one of her three key priorities for St Helier.
She also intends to have free WiFi throughout the town centre – something which she says visitors have come to expect – as well as to create more green places in St Helier.
St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft said that the scheme had been led by retailers and that it was now time for the States to do more – such as introduce free parking – to make the Thursday initiative work.
‘When we launched late-night shopping we agreed it would not be a walk in the park and it would take time,’ Mr Crowcroft said.
‘We need to continue to do it so it gets hard-wired into people’s minds that Thursday is late-night shopping.
‘I’m optimistic that we are going to be able to get more shops opening.’
In the run-up to Christmas, Mr Crowcroft said that late-night Thursday shopping would ‘naturally be popular’, but added ‘come January we need to pull out all the stops’.
Mr Crowcroft said: ‘It would be helpful to us if TTS could allow for free parking after 3 pm.
‘People would then be more likely to come in at that time and perhaps stay a bit longer.
‘I have met with TTS.
‘The answer was we would have to find the money for the lost parking revenue.
‘This is an initiative that we are continuing to try and pursue.
‘It is important to get the message that St Helier is a welcoming place in terms of people coming in by car.’
Mr Crowcroft said that Central Market’s 2 pm closure on a Thursday was ‘another difficulty’.
He added: ‘When you have one of your main attractions in retail closed it really does not help.
‘We are going to continue to try and aid those who operate in the market to consider staying open on a Thursday.’
Transport Minister Eddie Noel said that as a landlord, the States would be ‘quite happy’ for the market to be open all day Thursday but added: ‘You can’t force businesses to open’.
Addressing Mr Crowcroft’s call for free parking after 3 pm, Deputy Noel said: ‘If I could ban one word it would be free.
‘There is a cost – the taxpayers would be subsidising the businesses.’
He added parking was free in the multi-storey car parks after 5 pm and that on street parking charges – which are levied by the parish – operate until 10 pm.
