Some shops double takings thanks to Spend Local cards

Some shops double takings thanks to Spend Local cards

Last week the government confirmed that £4.5 million had been spent via the debit cards that were issued to each Islander as part of an £11 million scheme to boost the economy.

By Friday, 86,000 of the 105,000 cards had been activated, with 58,000 Islanders having used their cards at least once. The cards, which can only spent at local businesses, are due to expire on 31 October.

Natalie Coutanche, manager of Madhatter surf shop, said that skateboards had been a particularly popular purchase.

‘The cards have been really positive for us and we have had a lot of new customers. People have been coming in who normally wouldn’t buy anything and now they are buying stuff,’ she said.

‘We’ve had a lot of kids in the shop and they are doing their Christmas shopping early. We’ve sold a bit of everything but a lot of skateboards in particular. I think that’s because we are offering an extra 20% when the whole £100 is spent and skateboards are one of our more expensive items.

‘We have probably doubled our average takings over the last few weeks, so it has worked well.’

Robert Touzel, the sales and marketing manager of Handpicked Hotels, said that the cards were being used for dining out, spa treatments and staycations at the Grand Jersey and L’Horizon hotels, often in conjunction with special offers.

‘We have put together some special packages for people to use the cards to dine out at the Grand and L’Horizon, where they get a meal worth more than the £100, and those have been doing well,’ he said.

‘The spas have been doing well and we are still getting some interest in staycations, although not as much in the summer. A lot of people stayed at the L’Horizon in particular.

‘The Tassili fine-dining restaurant at the Grand has been doing particularly well.’

Sean Murphy, landlord of the Lamplighter pub, said that customers seemed to be treating themselves to a couple more drinks than normal after the cards were issued.

‘We had quite a lot of people using it. It was very, very good for the first couple of weeks,’ he said.

‘I would say that we had around 70 to 80 different cards used in the pub, so it’s certainly given us a boost after all the difficulties of Covid and we are thankful for that.

‘What we have seen is people coming in for a drink and maybe having another one or two because they have the card to use.’

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