A lack of shoplifting in Jersey helps attract “significant interest” from UK retailers who could come to the island within the next six months, according to the Economic Development Minister.
Deputy Kirsten Morel was attending a Chamber of Commerce event last week, answering a question about talks to bring brands to the island.
Conversations, he said, had been “very good”, adding: “There is significant interest from significant retailers.”
After being sold on the idea of Jersey, businesses had to negotiate with landlords, which Deputy Morel said was “not in our control in any way, shape or form”.
Nevertheless, he said he anticipated that “in the next six or seven months, we should see some interesting brands landing in Jersey”.
Deputy Morel added: “We know that Jersey is genuinely interesting, and it’s things like the security in Jersey, the lack of shoplifting in Jersey compared to the UK, the fact that footfall is so high for an island of 100,000 people.”
Last year, over 20 million people visited the town centre, according to figures collected by the Parish of St Helier using counters at Charing Cross and Queen Street.
Numbers were down 7.2% from 2024, but addressing industry representatives at the breakfast event, officers stressed that this didn’t translate into less business.
Government lead on arts, culture and heritage Charlotte Howe said visitors’ spending had increased by 41% between 2019 and 2024.
And Erin Garraghan, a sector officer for retail and the visitor economy, added that similar footfall figures were “sometimes rare to find elsewhere”.
“Having that active and captive audience in St Helier really surprises them a lot of the time,” she said.
Tax-free shopping for visitors also helped attract shops to the Island, he said, although it was “a shame” that this had gone “unheralded” locally.
While the minister did not reveal which brands were interested in coming to Jersey, Deputy Morel said conversations with “large grocery retailers” were in train, but that these took “a long time”.
In 2024, Deputy Morel said that a French supermarket chain was “very interested” in coming to Jersey – but their preferred site was earmarked for agricultural use in the Bridging Island Plan.