EUGENE Minors believes the island's tourism industry is alive and kicking and with some effort and imagination, Bermudian businesses can earn well from it.

And Mr. Minors is backing up that belief with his money, having just this week officially opened his second store in Dockyard's Clock Tower Mall a year after opening his first in St. George's.

Both named Pier-Vu, the stores aim to offer customers something unusual, not only for the thousands of cruise ship visitors who frequent the two ends of the island, but also for residents seeking to buy something distinctive.

"If you have a good product and good service, then you should be able to attract tourists to your business," said Mr. Minors, who owns the stores in partnership with his wife Sharon.

"I believe Bermuda has a strong tourism industry and I believe we need more Bermudians to get involved with that industry. Nobody can tell the story better than we can."

Earlier in his working life, Mr. Minors was an Immigration officer, a carpenter and a general contractor.

He saw a gap in the retail market and put his carpentry skills to good use in creating the wooden panelling that gives the decor at both stores a distinctive and attractive style.

The premises at Dockyard opened last October and expanded after Mr. Minors acquired the next-door unit and knocked out the partition wall between them.

Mr. Minors, with help from Oggino Smith and Allana Iris, transformed the unit into perhaps the mall's plushest store in the space of 30 days.

The ceiling of the old naval warehouse building is 14 feet above the ground and the higher reaches of the wall space are not wasted, as Mr. Minors has hung up historical photographs of Dockyard which encourage many questions from customers.

The Dockyard Pier-Vu, as with the St. George's version, sells clothes, jewellery and gifts, but also something different - sea shells.

Most spectacular of all are the sea shell chandeliers that hang from the ceiling, but there are also intricately designed fruit bowls, clocks, pill boxes, night lights, tortoises, frogs and numerous other shell designs on offer.

The shells are not from Bermuda and the items are imported ready-made, but in the future Mr. Minors said he hoped to have an area adjacent to the store where a craftsperson could be working on making things from the shells.

"We talked about doing something touristy for Bermuda, something that was different," said Mr. Minors. "Bermuda has a lot of beaches, so it was natural that we should choose shells.

"We have 65 to 70 different items made from shells and we sell a few loose shells as well."

Mr. and Mrs. Minors attend trade shows overseas, including one recently in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where they get ideas for new stock.

Unusual gifts with a Bermuda flavour are Mr. Minors' speciality. As well as the shells, there are beautifully crafted wooden model sail boats made by Kersley Nanette, who has his own store, The Bounty, in St. George's.

And there are some with a British theme, such as red post box or telephone box clocks, designed to be particularly attractive to American visitors.

Most of the clothes Pier-Vu stocks are ideal for summer wear, some for casual, some for dressing up in the evenings.

The Pier-Vu store in St. George's opened just about a year ago and business had been very satisfactory in its first 12 months, said Mr. Minors.

"It's attracted a lot of interest from locals as well as tourists," said Mr. Minors. "Many people come in and say our shop is different. I think the attractive decor helps a lot.

"Many stores in Bermuda have not been decorated in years. They just set up a place and it's always business as usual. But a good decor and display makes a big difference."

With the cruise ship season just about to start, Mr. Minors has opened his Dockyard store in the nick of time to catch a rush of extra potential business.

"It's good timing, but that was always our goal, to get ready for the spring," said Mr. Minors. "We wanted to give the Clock Tower Mall a lift and this store is something good for Bermudians as well as tourists," said Mr. Minors.

"It's something new for locals coming down to Dockyard at weekends. Hopefully, it will help to encourage more people to come out here."

Mr. Minors said he had no plans to expand the Pier-Vu empire any further. "The second store will be the last store," he said. "I turn 65 in July and I'm planning to retire soon."