A.S. Cooper & Sons Ltd. has purchased the 100-year-old retail business of Astwood Dickinson.

President of the 107-year-old department store Peter Cooper said the acquisition of the jewellery store will take A.S. Cooper fine jewellery business to a ?higher level?.

It also means that his own jewellery department will have the space to continue on in business while the current A.S. Cooper department store is rebuilt.

?With this building coming down it gives us that opportunity to carry on in the fine jewellery business in a well-known location,? he said.

A.S. Cooper and Sons will keep the Astwood Dickinson name and will also continue to sell its jewellery and watch lines in addition to those sold by Coopers.

?Certainly for the immediate future we have no plans to change the name whatsoever. The location will be the same,? he said.

The purchase does not include the buildings occupied by the jewellery stores, but Mr. Cooper will rent both the Front Street and Walker Arcade locations. His staff will be integrated into Astwood Dickinson by February to make way for the demolition of the department store.

?That is why we?re looking for various locations. We?re trying to maintain all the staff we have, the various businesses that we have.?

A.S. Cooper and Sons will replace its premises with a seven-story structure that will combine retail space and office space.

While construction is going on, Mr. Cooper plans to continue to operate all of the store?s departments from free-standing locations. The company has opened Cooper?s MAN and Cooper?s Cachet on Front Street in addition to Cooper?s Express in Washington Mall.

Mr. Cooper says that he has secured promises for additional retail space for his other departments however he was unwilling to disclose the new locations because no leases have been signed.

The Royal Gazette was unable to reach the president and managing director of Astwood Dickinson, Thomas Dickinson, who will remain with the company as a consultant. His father, the late R.M. Dickinson, became Ernest M. Astwood?s partner in 1932.

According to the company?s web site, during its early years they sold such items as pianos and silver souvenir items.

Now the company has its own design workshop with manufacturing jewellers turning out individual designs as well as its famous Bermuda collection of 18 carat gold jewellery.

Also on the premises is a fully equipped watchmaker?s workshop to care for the fine luxury watch brands sold by Astwood Dickinson. Mr. Dickinson himself has been with the company since 1956.

The acquisition follows the recent departure of another long-time family retailer from Front Street. Department HA&E Smith was recently acquired by Trimingham?s. Mr. Cooper says that the recent trend of acquisitions is simply a sign of the times in Bermuda.

?Retail is tough and it is going to remain being tough due to declining tourism numbers, the fact that we have to pay duties on all the goods that come into Bermuda and the fact that Bermudians are buying more and more overseas.?