Years after the others fell, the 110-year-old Gibbons Company remains Bermuda’s sole remaining version of the typical department store, serving generations of Bermudians with everything from clothing to kitchen supplies.

Its recent growth goes against the grain highlighted by recent government statistics that shows a declining trend in retail sales — a downward slide in seven of the 12 months to December.

With one more shopping day than December 2024, the last month of 2025 registered inflation-adjusted sales volume growth of 0.9 per cent.

Gibbons Company chief executive Tony Thompson said there are retail challenges just as there are in other jurisdictions, although the challenges are amplified because of the cost of doing business here, and the cost of getting goods to the island.

But he said positive changes in Bermuda include more upmarket custom, more international business, major construction and the increase in hotel investment which are all pointing to optimism for the island.

Still, Mr Thompson said he is among retailers who would welcome reform in the way they are taxed. Customs duties forcing importers to carry the cost of paying the government upfront is one area that has long been contentious.

Over the years since the pandemic, there have been shipping issues, tariff changes and various related expenses.

He believes more can be done to ease the strain on retailers, through dialogue between the Chamber of Commerce and Government.

Artificial intelligence is greatly helping retail stores and staff, as companies are forced into technology that can only help satisfy the changing demands of consumers.

Mr Thompson said today’s workforce is being asked to understand technologies they may not have seen five years ago.

“AI is a huge help. Retail is ever-evolving, ever-changing. It is moving very fast. We find AI to be important in our everyday business. All of our senior executives use AI on a daily basis.”

Government figures cite unemployment at less than 2 per cent. Mr Thompson concedes seeing fewer people looking for part-time work to supplement the income from their main jobs.

A seven-day a week operation such as Gibbons Company is, requires additional employees for weekend work and other non-full-time roles. Mr Thompson said they have become harder to fill.

Still, the company has managed to open new stores, Contained, the home container storage solutions provider, in 2024, and, Palm Lane, the luxury home goods store.

He said: “More so than local competition, (overseas buying) is a local retailer’s biggest competition.”

The overall Bermuda Retail Sales Index has struggled to return to pre-2020 peaks. The index value in April 2025 (91.8) remained significantly lower than the retail sales recorded in December 2014.

Government statistics on retail sales show the actual volume of goods sold decreased in 2025, as consumers apparently spent more money to acquire fewer items, partly due to a retail inflation rate that frequently exceeded 2.5 per cent.

The 2025 year was characterised by “nominal growth” where higher price points masked a general stagnation or slight decline in the actual quantity of goods moving through local stores, as the consistent rise in overseas imports remains a primary challenge for the local retail economy.