As Hornburg Calypso prepares to close its clothing store, Benetton, at the end of the month, the company’s head is lamenting a lack of support from the Government.

“Local retailers have to pay land tax, corporation tax and payroll tax,” said Maritza Sequeros. “That is a lot when you think about sustainability.”

She pointed to the closure of Front Street last weekend for the King’s Birthday Parade as an example of the Government’s lack of commitment to retail.

“The Government does functions on Saturdays closing all of Front Street, and parking, so that Saturday shoppers cannot shop,” she said.

“For the volume of customers we were getting at Benetton, it just was not sustainable.”

Benetton is the last of Calypso’s satellite stores. There is a “50 per cent off” sale on remaining Benetton merchandise from now until the doors close.

The closure of the Reid Street, Hamilton, outlet comes three years after Calypso absorbed its Max Mara, Voilà and Women’s Secret stores back into the main shop on Front Street.

“Bermuda retail has changed since I started at Calypso 30 years ago,” Ms Sequeros said.

In recent years, local retail has been hit hard by customers shopping overseas via the internet.

The latest Retail Sales Index figures from the Department of Statistics show a fall in retail sales for the fifth consecutive month in December, compared with the corresponding month in 2022.

News of Benetton’s local wind-up hit Facebook with one person commenting on Maj’s List: “I hate to see another shop closing. I prefer to try things on before I buy, rather than shopping online.”

Another shopper said: “The trouble was that not enough of us shopped there regularly. If we want to keep local clothing stores open we need to spend money in them.”

A former Benetton manager ShaSha Pretty commented on the Facebook group that the closure was inevitable, claiming that Benetton was closing many of it stores worldwide.

“There are very few bricks-and-mortar Benetton stores any more,” she said. “The wholesale cost increased which meant we had to raise our prices, which drew a few complaints from customers. Then there was the increasing rent on that old building that needs work. Overall, online is the best option for shopping Benetton at this point.”

However, Ms Sequeros responded that none of that was the reason for the Bermuda store closure, saying that it was strictly related to the local retail environment.

Internationally, after a net loss of some €230 million (about $247 million) in 2023, a sharp fall from 2022's net loss of €81 million, the global company has been restructuring, with changes in leadership.

Ms Sequeros told The Royal Gazette that Benetton had closed many of its stores in Europe, and that Calypso had been buying their Benetton merchandise from Mexico.

However, she said the main Calypso store on Front Street still has a loyal following.

“It is still very popular with tourists,” she said. “I have visitors who come to see us every year. We have people who first came to Bermuda on their honeymoon, and they are now in their seventies and eighties.”

The building that houses Calypso at 45 Front Street has been up for sale for years.

“People have come and looked at it,” Ms Sequeros said. “As far as I am aware, nothing has come to fruition.”