The arrival of Bermuda's retail giants at Dockyard's Clocktower mall has some of the smaller tenants seeing red. Mr. David Chiappa, who owned the clothing store Island Splash and has recently quit the mall, said that when a large store carrying the same types of goods as he arrived, his sales took a sharp drop.

And then he was told by the West End Development Corporation that his lease would not be renewed in March, 1996, because his sales were down between July and August in comparison to previous years.

An employee at another store -- who did not want to be named -- said she was very upset that some of the larger businesses from Hamilton had been allowed to set up in the Clocktower.

She said she had believed, as had others, that these "larger Front Street shops'' would not be introduced to Dockyard.

And another store owner -- who did not want to be named -- agreed and said the "original selling point'' of the Clocktower was that the small stores would not be put in direct competition with the major retailers who were established in Hamilton. When asked if he would stay at the Clocktower next season he said he would "be reviewing the situation in time for the new leases''. But Wedco's development manager Mr. Ed Williams said shopping centres around the world had to pull in "anchor businesses'' which had a "large, established following of their own'' if they wished to succeed.

These businesses attracted people which other smaller businesses might not be able to and by doing so their clients were exposed to other stores as well.

This could be seen if people looked at shopping malls in the US which had "anchor businesses'' in the forms of Sears and Macy's, for example, said Mr.

Williams.

The centre had started with ten small businesses originally and as it became more successful it had expanded and attracted other businesses, some big and some small, continued Mr. Williams.

The bigger businesses carried just a small sampling of what the larger stores in Hamilton would, he explained.

Some of the most successful businesses remained the smaller entrepreneurial businesses, stressed Mr. Williams, who added that all the pieces fitted together "like a mosaic'' to make the mall as successful as it was.

Mr. Chiappa told The Royal Gazette that he had continued to pay his full rent throughout the period his sales were down and found a buyer for his shop but Wedco would not approve the sale, and would not say why, so he decided to move out.

He stressed that other stores' sales had suffered during this period also and added that in October his sales were above the same month in the previous year. His sales had steadily risen every year since he started his business five years ago.

He said other stores' leases were now coming up for renewal. Among the larger retailers with shops at Dockyard are A.S. Cooper and Sons, Trimingham Bros.

and Davison's of Bermuda.