MAY PEN, Clarendon — There was hardly any foot room for the large crowd which descended on Payless Shoes Store in Bargain Village to get their fill of the sweet 25 per cent off deal for everything in the store during last Thursday’s Jamaica Observer Takes Style Out (TSO).

No less than 250 shoppers were queued in lines to cash at just a little past six o’clock, with store clerks advising browsing customers to keep their pairs close lest they lose them.

An estimated 100 pairs of shoes, mostly sandals, were sold in the first hour of the sale and customers were taking not one, nor two, but three and four pairs at a time.

Business, however, was not as brisk three doors down at Maxie Department store. At a quarter-to-seven, Store Manager Gloria Reid said she was nowhere near her target for the evening, although the store was offering up to 70 per cent off clothing, houseware and cosmetics.

Reid inferred that the delay of TSO, caused by the passage of Hurricane Matthew and subsequent persistent rainfall, may have put a damper on things.

Ovenell Sinclair, who operates the secluded little boutique ‘Aleje’ on Fernleigh Avenue, had similar thoughts. But, for Sinclair, the added traffic she gets on a night like TSO is invaluable in building a loyal customer base for a personal business like hers.