President of H.A & E Smith Ltd., Roger Davidson, says that Smiths has no current plans to invest in renovations in the Front Street store.

Other stores such as Coopers, Triminghams and Aston & Gunn have recently carried out major renovations, despite the current economic climate.

But although Smiths rebuilt the Treasure Chest in 1994, the main store has seen little change in many years.

Asked why Smiths is doing less refurbishment than its competitors, Mr. Davidson said: "It's a reflection of the retailing industry at the moment."

He described competition in Bermuda's retail sector as fierce, adding that competing with overseas vendors was even more intense.

Mr. Davidson said that Smiths had spent more than $1 million on renovations in the past 5 years, but much of the work was not visible to customers, consisting mainly of an overhaul of the plumbing and wiring systems in 1998.

Acknowledging that it was "absolutely crucial" for retailers to keep upgrading their infrastructure, he said that retailers were constrained by the return on capital investment. "Retailing in Bermuda has not produced returns for the last 10 years."

According to Mr Davidson, people enjoy the unusual layout in Smiths which he said resulted from it being formed from different buildings: "What sets us apart are the different levels accommodating different departments."

Mr. Davidson said that the store also prided itself on having the best windows on the Island, thanks to the efforts of artist, Will Collieson.

This physical characteristic of the building presented some challenges for merchandising, however, and the inside of the store was probably less exciting than the windows from a merchandising point of view, he agreed.

"We like to think that the store itself is somewhat old-fashioned because that is the nature of high end retailing in Bermuda."