Retailers have responded to comments and criticisms of local shopping.

Local consumers interviewed in Friday's Royal Gazette complained about the price, quality and range of Bermudian goods, saying they preferred to shop overseas.

The Royal Gazette put some of the comments and criticisms to three leading retailers.

Pierre Dutoya is general manager and chief executive officer of Hornburg Calypso Ltd, the group which includes Calypso, Benetton, Voila and Max Mara; Lawrence Trimingham, is CEO of Trimingham Brothers; and Yvonne Cacace is president of Stefanel, Iana and Quattro.

Prices for clothing are too high in Bermuda

Yvonne Cacace says that there is not much difference between her prices and the prices of the same Stefanel stock in Europe. "The prices in the Stefanel store are only about 10-15 percent higher than in Europe, so by the time you have brought them back and paid duty, you would be better off buying here."

Pierre Dutoya says that most of his European merchandise is cheaper in Bermuda than in the US.

He says that the Hornburg Calypso group carries many products at prices below the US retail price. Mr. Dutoya says: "United Colors of Benetton is five percent below US retail price; Max Mara is seven percent below the US retail price and Longchamps is five to eight percent below the US retail price."

According to Mr. Dutoya, most of the European lines in the Calypso store such as "Solola" and " Animal" are five to 12 percent below the US retail price and their range of Italian ceramics are very often ten to 12 percent below the US retail price.

Some of the stores could present themselves better.

Lawrence Trimingham says that given the constraints, Trimingham's has to be very creative in the way they present the merchandise.

"Here in Bermuda, space is at a premium," says Mr. Trimingham. "It's hard to compete with a US store that has acres of space."

Another difficulty for Trimingham's is the age of the building and the fact that it is several buildings connected together.

"We are dealing with a very old building."

One area that the management has considered is how to make the Reid Street entrance more inviting.

Mr. Trimingham says that more shoppers access the store via Reid Street than from Front Street and yet the Front Street entrance is more appealing than the Reid Street entrance. A major problem is the fact that Reid Street is on a slope: "To make our store entrance the same level as Reid Street is challenging. we wish we could have fewer steps."

Although management is aware of the issue, they have not yet found a solution.

There are plans to improve the lingerie area at Triminghams, but Mr. Trimingham would not be drawn on a time scale.

Bermudians want to have their own individual look,

Yvonne Cacace agrees: "People like different things." For this reason, her stores have a rapid turnover of stock: "We completely change the stock every season."

There are no decent shoe shops in Bermuda

In tune with the consensus from the discussion group, Mrs. Cacace says that the market for shoes in Bermuda is "definitely lacking in variety, quality and style."

In response to what she perceived as a gap in the market, Mrs. Cacace opened a new shoe store, Quattro, on Reid Street on November 8, 2002.

Quattro has a selection of shoes for men, women and children. The children's range also includes orthopaedic shoes.