On March 8, Bermuda?s oldest and best known department store announced that it would close its doors in July.

Trimingham Brothers Ltd. began business in 1842 as a dry goods store. Over the years it became known as a high-end department store that visitors and locals flocked to.

Eldon Trimingham, a former president of the company, said the closure was a result of a changing business climate in Bermuda.

?Factors in this decision are changing buying patterns and the changing Bermuda economy,? he said. ?In detail, these include the decline in tourist spending on the Island; the ever-expanding retail market in the United States; the ease of travel making it more and more attractive for Bermudians to shop overseas and the rising cost of doing business in Bermuda. These are all challenges confronting the local industry and are basic reasons why the shareholders have decided to exit the retail business.?

The Island?s annual visitor expenditure fell approximately $28 million every year since 1998, with visitors spending $483.8 million in 1998 compared to $342.5 million in 2003.

Mr. Trimingham denied that the merger of Trimingham?s and A.F. Smith?s, the Island?s other long-standing department store, was the reason for the closure.

The store?s legal counsel, Wendell Hollis, said its board of directors agreed to sell after being unable to secure long-term financing to continue as a retail operation. Mr. Hollis said the store?s closure came after three months of negotiations.

In March the department store employed 220 people.

The loss of the store saddened many locals with 56.5 percent of people polled in March saying the loss was ?very significant?.

Research Innovations polled 407 people between March 17-21. While the majority said the closure was ?very significant? 29.7 percent of pollsters said it was ?somewhat significant?. Only 12.3 percent of respondents were not bothered by the closure of the store.

The final sales started in April and by July customers were able to buy items at 80 percent off the original price. The sales went so well that the store closed a week early on July 23.

The Bank of Bermuda announced plans to erect a seven-storey structure on the Front Street site of Trimingham Brothers Ltd. on October 21.

The bank?s design retains some of the traditional elements of the iconic Front Street property while incorporating, at the upper levels, a multi-storey, modern structure.