From record sales to crushing disappointment -- Hamilton retailers experienced it all this Christmas.

Some traders reportedly offered major pre-Christmas discounts to offset the tourism slump.

And Astwood Dickinson -- which enjoyed an all-time sales record -- hailed the success of weekend shopping and opening on Sunday before Christmas.

One businessman, however, warned of the impact of Internet shopping on bottom lines.

The retailers' comments came during a Royal Gazette survey this week of stores in Hamilton.

Although Christmas sales figures for the retail industry have not yet been compiled, a mixed picture emerged.

According to general manager of Hornburg Calypso Ltd. Pierre Dutoya, retail success this Christmas depended heavily on management philosophy and style.

Boasting that his sales for the season were up, Mr. Dutoya noted that not engaging in major pre-Christmas discounts was a big help and he warned that adopting this American style of retail would only hurt local companies.

He held that many of the local department stores could not expect huge profits because "they are cutting the branch that keeps them up''.

"Having big promotional sales in November is bad marketing in my point of view,'' he said, "that's the very start of the season.'' "Your goods lose credibility if you discount them so early.

"If you respect the industry you do sales at a particular time,'' he added.

Having "good merchandise'' and products which suit the public's taste, Mr.

Dutoya said was a key ingredient in his company's success.

"We have sales at the end of the season which attract not only the bargain shoppers but our good customers who come in and decide to pick up an extra item they may have had their eye on.'' He said that discount sales at the company were always based on simply clearing excess stock.

"It's a very simple technique ,'' he held. Outspoken about the topic, he noted that many retailers realising they are in trouble because of the slump in tourism, have been engaging in American style marketing.

"These promotions may be very good for downtown New York and large cities, but they cannot work in Bermuda,'' he said, "there simply is not the volume to support them.

"If you are a shop in a mall in America and you promote a major discount, people may drive fifty miles to take advantage of the savings, but what do they think will happen here? "People are not going to be flying in to Bermuda to go to their sales.'' Illustrating that the volume of the local market cannot support this style of marketing, Mr. Dutoya said: "When you have a good dinner, you do not need to eat another one in the same night.'' "I believe that retail should be adapted to where you are,'' he continued.

"If all the retailers got together and decided for example, to all have their sale on the day after Cup Match, then perhaps Bermuda could market that, and people might fly here to take advantage.

"But everyone would have to be in it together and agree on the one date.'' Not as open with her management style, Sue Bawn, general manager of Gibbons Company, said the company performed "very satisfactorily'' over the holiday season.

Traders experience highs and lows over Christmas "We were way ahead of target for Christmas and certainly did better than last year,'' she said. But she was reluctant to divulge how she managed to achieve the good results.

Pointing out that major renovations to the store were undertaken last year she suggested that that may have made an impact and she downplayed changes in merchandising which saw the company offer designer labels like Ralph Lauren, Donna Karen and Calvin Klein.

"We did make a considerable effort to improve our fashion image and it has made an impact for us but there was general improvement throughout the store,'' she said.

Like Mr. Dutoya, Ms Bawn said she stuck with product prices throughout the Christmas shopping period.

"We did not advertise any major discounts, there were some very minimal ones offered on certain small items for weekend shoppers,'' she said, "but we did not start our sale until after Christmas.'' An all-time sales record was set on Christmas Eve at Astwood Dickinson with company manager Ian Smith noting that weekend shopping and opening on the Sunday before Christmas accounted for a significant portion of the total sales.

"We had a fantastic last whole week right before Christmas,'' he said, "and on Christmas Eve we hit an all-time record high.

"My staff helped a lot in the success,'' he noted. But he pointed out too: "Bermudians know that they can buy jewellery cheaper here than they can overseas.

"There are some items that are real bargains here and jewellery is one of them,'' he said.

"We do have to pay the duty but offer duty-free prices, so while my net sales are good, the bottom line is affected,'' he added.

"We do need tourism to be firing on all cylinders. If tourism was to stop tomorrow we would have to close down.'' Roger Davidson, president of H & A E Smith, described business at his store as "pretty busy''.

"We're happy with the results but we would always be happier with more,'' he said. "Generally speaking there wasn't much profit margin. We are of course now approaching our time for stock taking and so it is definitely an opportunity for people to pick up some very good bargains.'' Noting that tourism figures are down Mr. Davidson said: "It is pretty hard to run a successful operation without sufficient bed count.'' This sentiment was echoed by managers of Trimingham Brothers and AS Cooper & Sons Ltd. who both pointed out that poor tourism arrivals for the entire 1999 had really hurt their bottom line.

Lawrence Trimingham VP and general manager of Trimingham Brothers, while saying that his Christmas sales were on target, also sought to stress the importance of duty-free shopping.

"I think tourism is essential for the entire economy and it is one reason that we are going to keep pressing for duty free shopping. It would help to sell Bermuda as a competitive destination,'' he said.

Openly admitting disappointment, Peter Cooper president of AS Cooper & Sons Ltd. said: "It was bad we were just about on par with last year. We should have been doing better than last year.'' "I am disappointed,'' he admitted, "but I do not think any one thing caused it.

"A lot of things were just different last year. There was a lot of Internet shopping which indicated to me that a lot of money was spent overseas. And I'm sure the last quarter results will show a significant increase in the amount of money spent by residents returning from overseas.

"We are now in a world market and unfortunately our part of the pie is just getting smaller no matter how you slice it,'' he said.

CHRISTMAS CHEER Ian Smith, manager at Astwood Dickinson: "We had a fantastic last whole week right before Christmas and on Christmas Eve we hit an all time record hight...Bermudians know that they can buy jewellery cheaper here than they can overseas.'' *** Sue Bawn, general manager of Gibbons Company: "We're happy with the results but we would always be happier with more. Generally speaking there wasn't much profit margin.'' CHRISTMAS CAUTION Roger Davidson, president of H & A E Smiths: "We're happy with the results but we would always be happier with more. Generally speaking there wasn't much profit margin.'' *** Pierre Dutoya, general manager of Hornburg Calypso Ltd.: "Your goods lose credibility if you discount them so early. If you respect the industry you do sales at a particular time.'' CHRISTMAS CONCERN Peter Cooper, president of AS Cooper & Sons Ltd.: "We are now in a world market and unfortunately our part of the pie is just getting smaller no matter how you slice it.'' *** Lawrence Trimingham, VP and general manager of Trimingham Brothers: "I think tourism is essential for the entire economy and it is one reason that we are going to keep pressing for duty free shopping.'' Photo montage by David Skinner Bargains, bargains, bargains: Sale signs are scattered across Hamilton's retail landscape as stores hope to attract bargain-hunters.