After 57 years in the retail trade, Neal Stephens is shutting up shop, and retiring.

On the day he turned 70 last week, Mr. Stephens put up the sale signs in The Yankee Store in Reid Street.

And although he says it breaks his heart to leave the shop he has owned since 1963, he feels the time has come for him to leave.

"I have thought about it long and hard. I have had some good times here, it has been a good experience. But the last six years there has been a down side and trade has frankly not been good,'' he said.

Mr. Stephens has run the shop, which originally opened in 1912, selling at first gifts and jewellery, and then expanding into shoes and leather goods.

At one time, in the late sixties, business was booming to such an extent that he opened a shop on Front Street.

And through the decades he has seen the economics, both of the US and on the Island, impact on his business in different ways.

In 1970, the down turn in the US economy forced him to close the Front Street shop, where Delta Airlines is now based, as cruise ships became less frequent and visitors spent less money.

"We had four good years, but the fifth did it for us, and I had to sell the lease, and that was that. The extension I built on the back is still there.'' However, when the recession hit in 1990, however, his business was hardly affected, and he got away with a little less than the bottom line.

It was after the 1995 referendum that he claims thing got bad for the business, and never really recovered.

"The referendum had a great effect on sales. I lost a fortune. And since then it has not really been the same.'' Mr. Stephens believes that his business is not the only one affected in the last five years.

He says the trend for shopping off the island, high wages, import taxes and high retail property prices have crippled many of the local shops.

"Before people shopped locally. But now they go off to New York and do their shopping there. The cost of living is high, so the wages are high.

"And when you get goods in, the shipping costs and taxes of a product which say costs a dollar could be as much as 32 cents. And then on top of that you have to make your profit. People ask why goods cost so much, and that is why.

The ships charge extra because they have no goods to take back on the return trip.'' Mr. Stephens began working at Smith's on Saturdays and holidays when he was still at school. After graduating, he went on to work at the department store full time, from 1948 to 1963.

He then took over The Yankee Shop on Reid Street before moving it to bigger premises next door. But now he has decided to hand over the shop to a new owner.

Mr. Stephens is keeping mum about who has bought the business, which is being sold as a going concern, until the deal has been signed and sealed.

He will however be retiring from the retail trade in January. " I am not going to go home and do nothing, but I am leaving the business,'' he said.

He added: "We have had some very loyal customers over the years, many of whom have passed away. But I would like them to know that we appreciate them and hope that they will support the new owners.'' Phot by Ras Mykkal Yankee doodle done: Reid Street retailer Neal Stephens is quitting the retail game after nearly six decades in the business, saying offshore shopping and the high cost of doing business in Bermuda have taken a toll.