recession and getting more for their money.

That is one of the conclusions from a dramatic increase in sales at Catalogue Library and Order Services Ltd. (CLOS).

Minority shareholder Mr. Derek Brashier said: "We've doubled our volume and dollar income this year.

"We're a retailer which has been doing very well, so that must tell you something.'' The company is thought to be unique worldwide in that it represents both Sears and JC Penney, rival US retailers.

Mrs. Janice Saunders, the majority shareholder and president of CLOS, said her firm put a case to both retailers and they accepted that CLOS could fairly represent them both.

CLOS also represents smaller companies like Scotty's and Service Merchandise, in the US, and Kay's, in the United Kingdom.

Mrs. Saunders said the main advantage of buying through catalogues was "choice, price, convenience and co-ordination''.

There were hundreds of thousands of items to choose from at competitive, often cheaper prices than exist in Bermuda, said Mrs. Saunders.

And customers, particularly those who are furnishing a whole room, have a choice of a wide variety of items in the same style and colour.

"This is something that does not exist in local stores because they're limited in what they bring in,'' she added.

Mr. Brashier said: "Our biggest single area is bedding. People want everything to match and will sometimes look at a picture in a catalogue and order everything in the picture.'' CLOS sells between 1,000 and 1,500 copies of every catalogue brought out by both Sears and JC Penney, for a price of between $3 and $9.

With each company producing several catalogues per year, this amounts to a considerably large number of catalogues in circulation compared with the size of the Island's population.

The company does not make its profit from sales of catalogues, though, said Mrs. Saunders.

"This comes from goods which are actually ordered,'' she said. Customers are quoted final prices which include freight costs and they must pay up front for items, which take, on average, between four and six weeks to arrive.

Clients generally pick up the items themselves from CLOS offices in Washington Lane, Hamilton, near La Trattoria Restaurant but the company can arrange for larger products to be delivered to people's homes.

Mr. Brashier said CLOS did not place its own mark-up on any of the catalogue items.

"The only price the customer pays is the catalogue price, plus the cost of getting it here,'' he said. "Our profits come from the discount on goods we get from the supplier.'' The company, which was formed in 1991, has a staff of three, two of whom are part-time.

Mrs. Saunders, the only full-time employee, previously spent many years working for retailer Trimingham Brothers, holding posts which included credit manager and manager of branch stores.

"The business is going very well,'' said Mrs. Saunders. "We're not suffering at all from the recession.'' RECESSION BEATERS -- Mr. Derek Brashier and Mrs. Janice Saunders, who run Catalogue Library and Order Services Ltd.