million dollars into overseas stores, bringing the total amount spent abroad during 1992 to a whopping $20 million-plus.

But that figure does not include the money drained out of the Island through the increasingly popular mail-order market.

The Island's largest mail-order business, the Catalogue Library in Washington Mall, which claims to bring customers "a shopping mall of merchandise from many fine catalogues'', has seen its volume of sales double over the last year.

And the Catalogue Store, which orders goods from B&F Catalogue and displays them at its Church Street location, reports that it has been doing a brisk business this year which has picked up even more with last week's 25 to 50 percent store-wide sale.

Retailers spoken to by The Royal Gazette admitted they were feeling the effects of the mail-order business, but did not think it was putting a big dent in their sales.

However, they complained they were at a disadvantage because they had to pay sizable import duties on their goods.

And there was little they could do about it, they conceded, other than promote their businesses more than ever.

Hence, the abundance of pre-New Year's sales this Christmas as merchants fight for shoppers.

Stores selling jewellery, appliances, toys -- and just about every other kind of merchandise -- are advertising seasonal sales with markdowns from 25 percent to as high as 75 percent.

Department store president Mr. Eldon Trimingham estimated that as much as 35 percent of the $15 million spent overseas during the last quarter went towards wages for the employees of those foreign stores.

He suggested Government should offer import-duty discounts for retailers and look to other ways of raising revenue, such as cutting its operational costs.

It would help employ more Bermudians, he said.

"I don't have a problem with the catalogue industry -- it's a worldwide thing,'' Mr. Trimingham said. "But I do have a problem with the fact we are on an uneven playing field with mail order businesses. We have to pay over 20 percent duty on everything we import, a duty which US shops do not have to pay.'' Mr. Trimingham said his staff had shrunk 20 percent in the last few years -- though this was largely due to the downturn in tourism and less ex-patriates living on the Island.

He added he would be surprised if Christmas sales this year were better than last year's.

Mr. William J. Cox, general manager of Pearman Watlington and Company, said he was concentrating on beating out the competition by seeing that sales staff were experienced and courteous.

"The mail order business is certainly becoming a bigger factor,'' he said.

"But value is not necessarily in price.'' Mr. Rod Ferguson of Gorham's Limited said the store's True Value goods were very competitively priced in any event.

And he recalled how a woman had come to him just last week looking for a new light to replace one that broke in a four-light ceiling fan she had ordered from a catalogue a month ago.

But he said: "Mail order is a threat. It certainly takes away sales.'' He said Gorham's had to ensure that its prices remained competitive and it marketed itself aggressively.

Gorham's was having a "strong'' Christmas season, he added.

Not all retailers felt threatened by mail-order. General manager of Gibbons Company, Mrs. Susan Bawn, said most consumers preferred to see goods "in person''. And they liked the option of being able to return something without a hassle.

She added that at the end of the day, after the consumer had paid postage and duty, they "were not that much better off''.

Mrs. Bawn did not think the department store would not have a significantly better Christmas than last year. She was a counting on the final week of Christmas sales to boost overall sales to the level of 1991.

Retail sales in Bermuda plunged for the third consecutive quarter, according to the Finance Ministry's quarterly bulletin released last month. However, retail sales in October, the start of the final quarter, picked up slightly (3.6 percent).

The bulletin showed local residents spent $6.1 million overseas during July, August and September alone. Since January, residents have spent some $15 million abroad, having spent $21 million abroad in 1991, mostly in the clothing, electronic, furniture, toys and appliance categories.

Meanwhile, Mr. Derek Brashier, a minority shareholder of Catalogue Library and Order Services, said: "We've doubled our output this year, in terms of volume and dollar value. We are a retailer who's doing very well, so that must tell someone something.

"People come to us largely because of the tremendous variety of goods we offer and because they can purchase co-ordinated items, which is useful if someone wants to furnish a room in one particular style. People can order from the business or take home a catalogue.'' Catalogue Library and Order Services sells, on average, between 1,000 and 1,500 copies of every catalogue produced by JC Penney and Sears, who both bring out several catalogues a year, costing Bermudians between $3 and $9.