Bermudians hit the sales with a vengeance in February, contributing to a rise in revenues for many local retailers.

The Department of Statistics released its retail sales summary for the month of February which revealed an estimated gross turnover of $36.4 million, $1.5 million more than in February, 2002.

There was strong sales activity at service stations and liquor stores, while gross revenue flows in the "all other store type" was up for the second month in a row.

The department also reported a selectively stronger demand for big-ticket items such as home appliances and entertainment equipment whose combined sales increased 11.3 percent.

This high level of spending was fuelled by promotional sales held by some stores and replenished inventory stocks which introduced new lines of consumer products.

Within the apparel sector, the majority of stores reported sales receipts that were marginally above the levels reached in February 2002.

However special sale offers for particular lines of clothing and accessories boosted consumer demand and helped to push up aggregate receipts for this sector by a modest 5.1 percent over last year's levels.