In a country which forbids topless sunbathing, you might assume that sex shops would be unlikely to exist, but there are actually two in Bermuda. One, Eve's Garden is tucked away in the Emporium building off Front Street and the other, RayJuan's Intimate Lingerie in Joells Alley off Church Street.

RayJuan's manager, Bernette Tucker, is currently building a new website for the business.

It's all part of a marketing strategy to raise the profile of RayJuan's. She is also planning to hold a fashion show in July at City Hall. "A lot of people don't realise that we are here - but we have been going for ten years," said Ms Tucker.

"We have the largest selection of adult lingerie on the Island."

They also have a back room housing an extraordinary range of toys for both men and women, plus books on subjects ranging from sensual massage to marriage guidance, making a visit to RayJuan's an educational experience.

They also have a new party section for "bachelorette" parties and can arrange private parties. But while the subject of blow up dolls and vibrators may be humorous to some, RayJuan's is not short of customers who take the products seriously.

There appears to be a major market for male performance enhancing tablets, for instance. "We don't claim that it works, but we do have a couple of "guinea pigs" on the Island who are trying the tablets," she revealed.

The most popular product is a pump to increase the size of the male sexual organ which sells for $60.

It's a profitable and growing business, according to Ms Tucker: "There's a good margin. Toys sell for a lot more than the lingerie."

Customers were not generally embarrassed to come into the store, said Ms Tucker, but she expected business to blossom once the web site allowed purchases in total privacy.

"We even get 80 year old women who come in here. Sometimes their husbands have been dead for a few years."

Ms Tucker started to build the RayJuan's website in March using a third party hosting facility. This is the third site she has built and she learnt a lot from experimenting on the first two, she said.

The hosting platform only charges $19.95 per month, which in Ms Tucker's view, is fairly reasonable. The RayJuan's website is taking a long time to complete, she admitted but this was mainly due to delays with photographs of the products.

Her previous two web sites may not have the polished appearance of professionally designed sites, but they are nevertheless proof that you do not need to be a computer expert to build a site.

So far Ms Tucker has managed to avoid what she considers "astronomical fees" from e-business consultants and her advice to other Bermudians is to have a go: "Build your own website as I did. It is totally free.

"Having your own site adds to your business venture. I promise you, you will be happy you did.

"You don't have to be a major retail outlet. Get online now."