Felix was a disaster, Hamilton shop owners claimed yesterday. Cancelled flights, absent cruise ships and a two-day shut down meant sales plummeted last week during what should have been peak season for retailers.

Even supermarkets claimed a scurry of buying before the hurricane was cancelled out by a post-storm slump.

"It's been disastrous,'' said Mr. John Casling president of Daina Ltd. owners of Bananas store on Front Street. "After the hurricane you would have thought it was mid-winter. The streets were empty.'' Felix was the final straw in a season marred by poor visitor arrivals, he said.

"It's been a downward trend in tourism all year,'' he said, adding that the Tourism Department was at fault for not taking a more proactive approach to boosting arrivals.

"Someone in Government has got to admit that Bermuda has been on a downward slide since 1980. It is time Government took a very hard look at our brand of tourism. What we're doing is obviously wrong.'' Nothing, he claimed, was being done to halt the decline. He said it was time overseas marketing experts were hired to revamp Bermuda's approach.

Trimingham Brothers president Mr. Eldon Trimingham also claimed the past two weeks had been a disaster for the Front Street store.

"It was a major hit ... it was a disaster,'' he said.

He admitted it was difficult to calculate the exact toll of the hurricane on sales but that it was likely to make a negative impact on August retail figures.

"It was already a very weak season because of tourist arrivals. There was a downward turn even without the influence of Felix.'' He denied reports that staff had been laid off. Sales staff had been transferred to other departments due to slow traffic on the shop floor. There had also been a reshuffle within the company, but that it would only affect a tiny percentage of staff.

Weak tourist arrivals, increased overseas shopping by locals and the perception among visitors that Bermuda shops were overpriced meant the season was already a soft one.

Managing director of A.S. Cooper and Sons Ltd. Mr. Peter Cooper said retail had suffered drastically with the cancellation of Harbour Nights and the absence of the cruise ships.

Trader's Gate owner Mrs. Pamela Langton also admitted the shop had lost almost a week's business in the middle of the season.

"It was awful,'' she said. "August was starting out quite well but Felix put a damper on it.'' The absence of the cruise ships had made an "incredible'' impact on sales, she said.

Buyer at Astwood Dickinson's Front Street store, Mrs. Nancy Wainwright also claimed the shop floor had been especially quiet over the past two weeks although local sales had remained strong.

But Calypso manager Mr. Pierre Dutoya took a more moderate view. "We lost a certain amount of business but it was not a disaster. Felix will not jeopardise the year.'' White & Sons, Lindo's and MarketPlace supermarkets claimed Felix had made little impact on the week's profits.

Manager of White's & Sons, Mr. Michael White, said sales went down after the storm as people without electricity shied away from fresh and frozen goods.

Worse, delivery schedules were thrown into turmoil, putting an added burden on staff, he said. But overall the week's takings were about the same as usual.