Bermuda retailers reported better than expected Christmas sales with a last-minute rush of shoppers through the doors to boost their bottom line.

Somers Cooper, managing director of AS Cooper & Sons Ltd., said that trading was good considering the difficult economic environment this year, while Paula Clarke, CEO of the Gibbons Company Ltd. said figures were better than in 2008.

Both companies have launched their post Christmas sales, with AS Cooper slashing prices by 30 to 50 percent on women's, men's, children's and home fashions and accessories and 75 percent off trim-a-tree and Christmas table decorations, and Gibbons offering discounts of up to 75 percent across the store.

Other businesses have followed suit, with Trends' sale starting yesterday, featuring 25 to 50 percent discounts on ladies shoes and 20 percent off on selected men's footwear, Marks & Spencer offering 30 percent on selected items storewide, and Gorham's discounting all of its Christmas decorations by 75 percent.

Mr. Cooper said that takings were in line with expectations, helped by the extra day of shopping between Thanksgiving day and Christmas Day this year.

"That boosted us up, so we hope to finish in line with expectations, which is about equal with last year," he said.

"We would have really been frustrating ourselves if we looked at the 2007 figures, because there were a number of factors which have changed since then, including the fact that we had six more stores then."

One area which the company has excelled in this year compared to previous years was spring merchandise sales, with better than expected results for this time of year.

Ms Clarke said that Christmas sales had been promising, despite the tornado and storms that hit Bermuda the weekend before Christmas and scared off a number of potential shoppers.

"They were ahead of last year, although they came in very late," she said.

"The Saturday before Christmas when we had the gale force winds wasn't so good and as the weather got worse less and less people came out.

"But in the subsequent days we made up for the sales and we had extended hours on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday between 8.30 a.m. and 8.30 p.m. before Christmas and that definitely paid off."