the Dockyard area.

The West End Development Corporation is currently marketing the project to Bermuda's retailers and individual entrepreneurs.

Work to renovate the 7,000 square foot former Cable and Wireless building is due to start in the autumn, with the mall scheduled to open in spring 1994.

The building is being joined to the current indoor shopping centre inside the Clocktower Centre so shoppers can walk through.

Unlike stores at Clocktower, though, outlets in the new building will be enclosed.

A cobbled walkway will take shoppers between stores, whose design will be based on the Victorian era.

Mr. Ed Williams said: "The existing shopping mall has done very well and we're optimistic about this new addition.

"We already have commitments on about a third of the space. We're looking for a mixture of retailers so we don't have too much of the same thing. Unique products are what we are looking for.'' The Clocktower mall had thrived largely because of the originality of its stores and their products.

Retail outlets at Dockyard are considered to be ideal for first-time business people because overheads are minimal.

Rent is charged as a percentage of gross to help retailers if takings are weak. Retailers must submit annual audited financial statements to Wedco to determine their rent.

"It is the honour system,'' said Mr. Williams. "It is similar to the system which is used in shopping malls all around the world.'' With the growth of the retail side of Dockyard, people were witnessing the "creation of a little town''.

A plethora of arts events, a new pub and a jazz club had all helped push the area into the public eye.

"The people who have caused us to move so quickly on many of these items are what I call the local tourists who come here because it's different,'' he said.

"A trip to Dockyard is an excursion that, in some ways, alleviates the feeling of having to get off the Island that many local people have from time to time. It's an outing.''