Although there are rumours of North Americans lining up outside malls before they open and Canadians waiting until after Christmas to do their Christmas shopping in order to take full advantage of the slashed prices and Boxing Day sales, Bermudians did not seem to be caught up in the "madness" of after-Christmas sales, TheRoyal Gazette observed yesterday.

Reid Street was busy with a steady flow of shoppers taking advantage of the after-Christmas sales.

However, though the scene was compared at one point to Christmas Eve, it was also noticeable that the shoppers were only heading for one end of the street, mainly towards Trimingham's.

And, while a number of people that The Royal Gazette talked to were in town for the after-Christmas sales, it seemed as though just as many were there for other purposes.

Catherine Trott was one of those in Hamilton specifically for the sales.

Born in Bermuda, she now lives in Atlanta, and has come home for Christmas to visit her family.

Every year, she says, she comes to town at about 8.30 a.m. to take advantage of the sales.

"I usually buy items that you can't get in the US, but can get for half price here," she informed The Royal Gazette.

"Little leather goods, silver, scarves - woollen scarves ..."

Budd Mathieson, like Catherine Trott, is also visiting family for the holidays in Bermuda.

Budd was not in town on yesterday to take advantage of the sales, however.

He intended to use the last day of his vacation productively, exchanging one or two gifts that he had received for Christmas before he returned to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

"The receipt system is no good," he commented, sounding slightly frustrated.

"You can only get half of what you paid back unless you have the receipt.

"They know you pay that much (the original price) but they rip you off anyway."

Jennifer Gracie, a student from Somerset, and her friend Megan McClure, also from Somerset, appeared excited for the sales.

Unlike Budd, they did not seem to be trying to return anything. "We got up bright and early," they said, adding that they had been in town since about 8.30 a.m.

"There's loads of people - it's like Christmas Eve all over again." But was there good merchandise to be found? "Not really, it's all the leftovers," the girls admitted.

Asha Ratteray, also a student from Pembroke, agreed. "The nice stuff's not on sale, not really," she said. But she added that she had "only been to Trimingham's".

"I'm on the way to Coopers - there's some fairly good stuff. It's worth your time, you can get some nice things," she said.