the opening of two new stores at the Bermuda International Airport.

Gosling Brothers Ltd. launched the outlets on July 9 for people travelling to the US, UK and Canada, ending the necessity of purchasing duty-free liquor and tobacco in advance of departure day at the airport.

Gosling Brothers vice-president Charles Gosling said: "We believe this will help enhance the appeal of the overall Bermuda visitor experience. It will also be a major convenience for locals making trips off the Island.'' The 3,000-square-foot duty-free shop for US-bound passengers is located to the left of the airline check-in counters while people travelling elsewhere will find a separate 1,800-square-foot shop in the international departure lounge.

Along with liquor, cigarettes and cigars, departing passengers will also find fragrances, watches, sunglasses and Gosling's Black Seal merchandise available.

The stores are open for every outgoing flight and have only experienced one hiccup during their first few days of operation when the manager overslept on the morning of July 14 so the store could not open for the early morning American Airlines flight to New York.

Mr. Gosling noted that the manager had been working very long hours for some ten straight days and he considered the slip-up understandable.

He also revealed that sales in the smaller store for international travellers are exceeding those in the store for US-bound flyers.

And he pointed out that this was to be expected as US travellers did not fly out of the country as much as those in the UK and Canada and were therefore not as educated in the theory behind duty-free.

Gosling Brothers would be seeking to change this through advertising and education, he continued, and were optimistic that sales would pick up.

Another advantage for the smaller store, he added, was that passengers on British Airways flights to London tended to have more time on their hands to look around the store and shop before boarding their plane as opposed to US travellers.

AIRPORT FLY