Diversification is a good thing in business, that is until all the different areas of business become too much to handle - a problem many retailers would be happy to be faced with.

But for Heel Sew Quick, and sister store Washington Lane Engravers, concentrating on core business has become top priority, and as a result the sewing part of the business is for sale.

Husband and wife team Darren Booth and Suzanne DeCouto have owned Heel-Sew-Quick - originally on Court Street but now on Church Street - for the last 11 years, and as the clothing alterations business was never their speciality, they have decided to put it up for sale.

Ms DeCouto said one of the reasons for the sale was that "Darren doesn't want to spread himself too thin."

Last year the couple bought a competing shoe repair store - which also sold trophies and an engraving service - where Washington Lane Engravers is now located on the lower level of the Mall.

The shoe repair business was shifted to Heel-Sew-Quick while the Mall store was renovated and the focus was changed to specialise on the engraving and trophy business.

Washington Lane Engravers now offer computerised engraving that allows intricate glasswork engraving as well as traditional engraving.

Ms DeCouto said she had no idea just how many sports and community clubs there were in Bermuda until she started selling trophies to them as well as filling engraving orders.

Danny Pilling has been the store's engraver since they started the business and Ms DeCouto says he is very good at accommodating customers requests.

New ventures were added to the store such as photo printing onto almost anything such as T-shirts, mouse pads, coasters, plaques, puzzles and caps as well as screen printing and embroidery, sign making, name badge printing, sign engraving and the list goes on.

Customer logos and designs are stored on computer for quick and easy repeat orders.

Ms DeCouto said that as a businesses they had embraced the Buy-Bermuda campaign and tried to keep their prices as reasonable as possible.

Ms DeCouto said she had been overseas and compared prices and it was actually more expensive to buy overseas. "We try to get the best possible pricing," she said.

She said that customer satisfaction is key whereas those ordering from overseas or over the internet may be left high and dry if their order is wrong.

Although visitors are not their largest market, Ms DeCouto said the business does enjoy income from tourists looking for a personalised momento of their visit, such as having their picture printed on a Bermuda T-shirt, or having a souvenir engraved or even having their watch battery replaced - yet another area of business.

Anyone interested in buying the sewing business should contact Mr. Booth at 295 1559.