Almost one in six businesses in St. George's have closed in the last 18 months, according to the Chairman of the East End Chamber of Commerce.

Kirby Brackstone, who is also co-owner of the Bermuda Perfumery, said that while his business has been steady, a number of other businesses have gone under.

"There are around 60 businesses in St. George's right now," he said. "In the past 18 months, I'd say that between ten or 12 businesses have closed, so there used to be around 70."

While the Island as a whole has suffered because of the downturn of the world economy, the lack of cruise ships in St. George's has caused the town to be particularly affected.

Makin' Waves' co-owner Douglas Patterson said that when the number of cruise ships slowed down, so did his business. The St. George's branch of Makin' Waves shut its doors earlier this year.

"Last year to this year, cruise ship arrivals dropped 50 percent, and sales dropped by the same amount," he said. "For us, the two were directly correlating.

"Hamilton hasn't had a steady cruise ship for the last two years, but we have a strong local following at that store."

While he said the store had been successful for several years, the drop in sales combined with fewer visits from cruise ships, meant the decision was made to close the branch.

"St. George's used to have four cruise ships staying four days," he said. "Next summer, best case scenario, they will be getting one cruise ship for a day and a half. You can't run a business on a day and a half."

St. George's Mayor Kenneth Bascome said he hoped to sit down with businesses to develop a strategy for the coming years.

"As the Mayor, what I want to do is to have a meeting with all the businesses. The Corporation (of St. George's) is not responsible for developing business. The Corporation's job is to create an infrastructure to encourage people to come."

His own business — Kippie's Place and the Cookery — closed about three-and-a-half years ago because it could not compete with a deli service offered by the town's main grocery store.

The Ample Hamper, inside the St. George's Club, will be closing down at the end of this month and owner, Ellie Jones, said she was closing due to a lack of customers. "It's just the economy is so bad," she said. "It's been five years so it's about time to move on."

Despite closing her store she is still optimistic about the future of the town. "I'm going to open another store in St. George's," she said. "I don't have a name yet and I won't open until the spring because there's not many visitors around."

She said the new store, on Water Street, would probably sell home décor products and would rely on a lot of local business. "I'm hoping to put in enough merchandise that the local folk will enjoy. It will be more for locals as opposed to visitors."