against time, crowds and traffic.

Pearman Watlington, this year, is not only planning to make Christmas gift buying fun, but a great deal easier, thanks to their new shoreline shopping complex, known as "On the waterfront at Pitts Bay''.

However, life at PWs will not be stuck in the slow lane.

Keeping in step with Hamilton during the hectic run up to the holiday season, the shops at the Pitts Bay Road site will be open for late night Christmas shopping on Friday evenings until 8 p.m., beginning tonight.

This year PWs will be experiencing its first Christmas with all its retail outlets located in one area, and managers and staff are looking forward to an exciting count down to the big day.

The waterfront complex was opened in grand style a month ago, and already early Christmas shoppers are taking advantage of the company's improved accessibility.

According to Joan Hug, marketing vice president, the idea behind the development is to enable Bermudians to get everything they need for the home, garden and boat on one site.

To make shopping all the more convenient, there are about 100 available parking spaces. Freshly painted signs point customers in the right direction and walkways and staircases now link the various shops.

Contained within the complex, which encompasses the gourmet food store Miles Market, are the Feed & Garden, Home, Appliance, Audio-Visual and Marine Centres, and the Marine Esso Station.

In the past year, PWs car business has been moved to St. John's Road, with the aim of bringing together the firm's sales and services departments.

And the appliance and audio-visual outlets were moved to Pitts Bay Road from their original location on Front Street.

"The move has been a perfect breath of fresh air. We had display windows on Pitts Bay Road and yet we were hiding our products in the second story of a Front Street building,'' said Mrs. Hug.

"It has been the perfect solution to our needs and I really believe that, for Bermudians, this is the ultimate shopping destination.'' The move has lead to a considerable change in marketing strategy.

Said Mrs. Hug: "The Waterfront has now become a major shopping destination.

Beforehand our stores were seen as being separate entities. The feed store, for instance, was not really thought of as part of PWs by the shopping public.

Now all our retail outlets fall under the one PWs umbrella.'' Fixing operations here has also enabled the firm to take advantage of all the traffic Miles Market brings.

Although PWs have set up a shopping complex, the company has not succumbed to the mall building fever which has affected the United States.

Bermudians can still look forward to doing their Christmas shopping in attractive surroundings.

Said Mrs. Hug: "We have kept the old buildings on the site and, thereby, maintained a lot of the old Bermuda charm.

"We don't need a shoreline of 20-storey buildings. You can go to Miami for that.'' To further tempt Christmas shoppers, PWs will be running sales in the various stores on the different days of the week.

Said Mrs. Hug: "I guess the only thing we won't have on sale will be gasoline.'' Holiday celebrations begin at PWs on Monday, December 7 when the employees will decorate a substantial Christmas tree in the forecourt and enjoy some discount shopping.

Despite the continuing recession PWs remains surprisingly optimistic about the holiday season.

"The Christmas fever has been spreading in the US and I think that Bermuda has caught it,'' said the marketing vice president.

"People in the retail business were expecting another bad year, but I believe it is going to be a gangbuster year, and particularly for us because we have made the business more accessible and there is plenty for people to do here.

"We have had a good month so far and are expecting a great Christmas period.

Variety is the name of the game at PWs' waterfront shopping centre. To prove the point, here are a smattering of gift ideas.

Nobody has too much kitchen work top space, and Black & Decker has designed a range of products to help save on space.

The Spacemaker coffee system is designed to be suspended from the storage cupboards above the kitchen counter. This discreet device has a built in timer, which can be set before bedtime and the user wakes up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Spacemaker toasters and can openers are also available.

For the trigger-happy video filmmaker, Panasonic's Video Printer has to be the ultimate gift idea. This appliance allows the user to print off pictures directly from the film onto postcard format.

For music lovers, the Appliance Centre has stereo components by Harman Kardon, Technics and speakers by jbl on sale during the run up to Christmas.

Fax machines and a portable telephones are on offer for those who cannot survive without them.

A grand total of 37 different varieties of English rose trees are on sale at the Garden Centre.

For children with green fingers there are step-by-step guides to planting and plant care, and these books come with a packet of seeds for practice.

For the businessman or woman looking for a comfortable ride to work, Piaggiot, the makers of Vespa, have come up with a new Scooter design. The Sfera has a particularly comfortable seat and plenty of storage space.

And shoppers at the Marine Centre are being given the opportunity to order Sunfish dinghies at a discount price for spring delivery.

SPOILT FOR CHOICE -- Miles Supermarket's seasonal selections are just one of the the attractions On the Waterfront