She said: “The discussion after last year was ‘was it a threat and did they need to be doing something?’.
“I think St Helier doesn’t want to miss an opportunity, it needs to be open for business, accessible and the added value really supports the retailers – many felt that the Christmas lights go on this week, sales are good but there is such advertising around Black Friday that they didn’t want to miss an opportunity.”
She said at least 17 local retailers have confirmed they’ll be taking part this year, some who are keen to surprise shoppers with their bargains tomorrow.
But not everyone is convinced one manic day of sales is good for business – even though some shops record their year’s best takings on Black Friday.
Although some of its concessions will be offering discounts in the store, and even though their shop window display is entitled “All Aboard” Voisins isn’t jumping on board the Black Friday bandwagon.
Voisins Head of Marketing Emily Moore said: “It’s not something that Voisins as a brand is supporting. Discount events can be quite damaging for your brand, we don’t want to fall into a trap that you’d have to run every year.
“It’s one really big day at the end of November but what will it do for their sales in December?”
“Voisins has a fair, transparent pricing policy, which ensures that customers enjoy great value throughout the year. We do not want the Voisins brand to be associated with Black Friday or other discount events as we are committed to providing service and value at all times.”
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving Day and marks the start of the Christmas shopping season in the United States.