A small Bermudian pottery business struggling to stay afloat blamed foreign competition for their decrease in sales.

Husband-and-wife team Robert and Dee Massey have operated their family-owned business, Pot Luck Pottery, for the past 20 years.

Mr. and Mrs. Massey work from their home studio in Harrington Sound, and sell their products to about 11 shops across the Island.

They produce about 80 different items which are all hand-made by Mr. Massey and hand-painted by Mrs. Massey.

Currently, the couple is working on a line of Christmas ornaments called "Bermuda Heritage Collection 2000''.

Each ornament is part of a series of Bermudian landmarks including St. Peter's Church, the Perot Post Office, Gibbs Hill Lighthouse as well as other popular features of Bermudiana such as Gombeys and moongates. The hanging decorations retail for about $5 to $12.

In addition to their Christmas ornaments, Mr. and Mrs. Massey make three-dimensional Bermuda cottages, magnets, jewellery and houseplates.

Mrs. Massey said the houseplates, which range in size from five to twelve inches, could be custom-made with the house name, a painting of the house, or the house number.

She said it was a popular Christmas gift item last year, and retailed between $25 to $250.

And the couple emphasised that everything produced at Pot Luck Pottery was uniquely Bermudian.

"Everything we make is Bermuda-generated -- we import as little as possible, we design everything by hand and we even make our own packaging,'' said Mr.

Massey.

He explained that they first began making three-dimensional Bermuda cottages in 1979 -- a product which requires about a ten-step process to make.

After designing the original cottage, Mr. Massey uses it to make a mould. He then puts clay inside the mould, adds on by hand, features such as push-out shutters, before Mrs. Massey paints and glazes the cottages for a dual-firing process.

But both Mr. and Mrs. Massey claimed their business was in danger of going belly-up in a few years because of overseas competition.

Although their products were hand-made, the Masseys said their ideas had been copied and mass-produced in foreign markets -- which could then be imported into Bermuda and sold for less.

For example, Mr. Massey explained that an item they sold at wholesale to a local shop for $5 would have 100 percent markup and be sold for $10 -- despite there being no duty or shipping paid or risk of breakage because the product was made locally.

Pottery business under threat And the Masseys said they could not compete with items mass-produced for $1 apiece which could carry a 200 percent markup and still be cheaper than their products.

"We're going to disappear... if we had a child who was interested in this, we couldn't hand down the business because there won't be any business in a few years' time -- and I find that very sad,'' said Mr. Massey.

"We can't exist on a dollar a day, and that's what we're competing with, with Third World people -- we need some protection.

"Foreigners -- and I hate to use that word -- are taking our images and reselling it to us,'' he added.

Business for the pair has declined since the mid 1980s. Mr. Massey said when they first started, they sold thousands of their cottages and employed five part-time staff members.

Now the couple work by themselves; they used to sell their products to 24 different outlets, and now it's been cut to 11.

"In 1985, we were exporting $80,000 worth of products at wholesale to the US and Canada,'' said Mr. Massey.

"Since then, it's been significantly reduced -- despite the fact that we've kept our prices the same since the 80s and have lowered prices on some items,'' he added.

Photos by Tony Cordeiro Pot Luck Pile: A pile of lighthouse ornaments made by the Pot Luck Pottery people wait to be fired in the kiln.

Down On Their Luck: Robert and Dee Massey, owners of Pot Luck Pottery, say foreign competition is ruining their business.

Creative Designs: In addition to hand-making Christmas ornaments, Robert and Dee Massey also custom-design houseplates.