THE cost-of-living crisis and supply shortages have left town retailers facing a mixed festive-shopping period.
Following successive Christmases hampered by Covid, Jersey’s high street was hoping that this year Islanders would flock back to town.
However, retailers – who have long faced challenges caused by the rise of internet shopping – are seeing customers become more careful with their spending in the current economic climate.
Gerald Voisin, owner of Voisins department store, said that trading this Christmas had ‘not been as buoyant as last year’ – but had not expected it to have been.
‘The general cost of living has gone up. So have rents and mortgages,’ he said.
‘It affects absolutely everyone at the moment. At the end of the day people will spend the amount of money that they have set aside. The bigger picture is that everyone is thinking about the amount of money that people are spending.’
The owner of Amélie, Michelle O’Connell, added that the cost-of-living crisis had made shoppers more cautious with their spending, while the mood in town had been more sombre than usual following the recent tragedies that had struck the Island.
She said: ‘What’s affected things a lot is that Christmas feel – we’ve had enormous shocks in the last couple of weeks. This has dampened spirits. The atmosphere has changed.’
However, she added that while shoppers were ‘under pressure with finances’ the ‘old-fashioned service’ provided by outlets could still bring people in.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Island’s largest retail company, SandpiperCI, said that non-food sales were being impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.
They said: ‘In this year’s run-up to the festive break, food sales have been strong, even though St Helier’s footfall is around 15% below pre-pandemic levels. Outside of food, sales are reasonable, but are clearly being affected by the lower footfall, cost-of-living concerns and the cost and difficulties of parking in St Helier.’
Christian Le Cornu, manager of Chaos, formerly known as Seedee Jon’s, added: ‘It’s not been as good as previous Christmases but it’s on par with what you would expect it to be with everything that is going on in the UK, which has had a trickle-down effect – we planned for it to be not as big a Christmas as the previous year.
‘We knew this year wouldn’t be as busy because of the cost-of-living crisis.’
He added that deliveries had become a lot slower as a result of postal strikes and adverse weather in the UK.
‘We’ve had to allocate our stock accordingly. With the issue in the UK with striking, getting hold of stuff is just a nightmare. That’s having a bigger impact.
‘Normally stock would be arriving in two to three days, but with the weather and strikes it takes a lot longer. Now it takes about two weeks.’
Ms O’Connell added: ‘As a retailer I’ve had to be more organised. I can’t expect to make an order at the last minute.’
David Cullen, manager of Roulette Clothing, suggested that the cancellation of the Christmas lights switch-on earlier this month had potentially had an impact.
He said: ‘The Christmas lights switch-on used to mark the start of Christmas retail. Right now town doesn’t feel Christmassy.
‘Our transactions are up, but the average people are spending in shop is down. It seems people are opting for cheaper [items]. People are opting for price-pinch-driven [items]. Instead of opting for a £90 shirt they’re going for a £65 shirt.’
However, Jersey Electricity’s head of retail, Gavin Murphy, said that the Powerhouse was experiencing a strong festive season.
He said: ‘Despite cost-of-living challenges, trade over the festive period has been good to date. In general, footfall is slightly lower, but we find people are shopping with ‘‘intent’’, ie, knowing what they need to buy before they walk into the store.
‘Customers are tending to browse our website to view options before making the journey to the Powerhouse. We’ve also noticed that interest-free payment options have been more popular with shoppers this year.
‘In addition, our retail park has free parking, making it somewhat easier for shoppers than the town centre.’
The town footfall figure for King Street last week was 170,559, compared to 171,174 during the same week last year. In comparison, in 2019 – before the pandemic – the number for the same week stood at 225,534.
Town centre manager Connor Burgher said: ‘The figures suggest people are coming into town. I’m hopeful a number of people coming into town are checking out hospitality and retailers as well. Visits to town are needed more than ever.
‘I’ve been quite pleased – we’ve not had that big surge of people but the numbers have been quite high and higher than last year when we did the [Christmas lights] switch-on.’
Speaking yesterday, Daphne East, chair of the retail and supply committee of the Chamber of Commerce, said: ‘The next two days are what is called the golden quarter in retail, when they make the best sales, which see them through past the start of the new year.
‘It’s still very early to say [on how trading has gone]. We still have two full days of trading left. We have late-night shopping tonight and we have not had all the feedback yet. Traders will be cautious of the next two days in a positive sense.
‘The feedback so far has been mixed. We have had feedback that the last week has been stronger.
‘The trading pattern is very similar to pre-Covid levels. It’s gradually building on the right track.’
