A majority of the public views the closure of Trimingham Brothers Limited as a very significant loss to Bermuda, according to the latest poll from the firm Research Innovations.

The department store shocked the community last month when it announced that it was closing its doors after 163 years in business. The last day of sales is set for July 27, the day before Cup Match and, according to a Research Innovation?s telephone poll conducted on behalf of , most people expect a negative impact.

Of the 407 respondents who spoke to pollsters between March 17-21, 56.5 percent said the closure of Trimingham?s would be a ?very significant? loss to Bermuda while a further 29.7 percent said the loss would be ?somewhat significant?.

Just 8.4 percent of respondents said the closure was not very significant while a further 5.4 percent said it was not at all significant. The poll has a margin of error of 3.9 percent.

Trimingham?s fashions, cosmetics and accessories departments have been a staple for female shoppers, so it comes as little surprise that more females, 61.1 percent, viewed the closure as a ?very significant? loss compared to just 49.1 percent of males.

Of male respondents, 36.4 percent used the term ?somewhat significant? compared to 25.2 percent of women.

While outside parties have expressed interest in buying well-performing departments such as the jewellery and cosmetic departments, but to date no deals have been announced. The poll makes it clear that all ages expect to feel the departure of the 163 year-old store.

Of those aged 55 plus, 66.5 percent deemed it as a ?very significant? loss while 18.6 percent viewed it as ?somewhat significant?.

This compares to 56.4 percent of those aged18-35 who used the term ?very significant? and 35.1 percent who used the term ?somewhat significant?.

Of those aged 36-54, 45.3 percent viewed the loss as ?very significant? while 38.7 percent saw it as ?somewhat significant?.

Polling across income brackets however found a divide with respondents earning less money more likely to expect a greater impact from the closure.

And 63.4 percent of respondents in households where the income was below $50,000 said the loss was ?very significant? compared to 59 percent of those bringing in $50,000-$100,000 and just 39.2 percent of those with households bringing in $100,000 plus.

In the latter category however, 60.8 percent viewed the loss as ?somewhat significant? compared to 25.9 percent in each of the other income brackets.

Across racial lines, black people were least likely to bemoan the loss of the department store with just 53.8 percent declaring the loss ?very significant? and 25.7 percent viewing it s somewhat significant. This compares to 61 percent of whites and 80 percent of those of mixed race who saw the loss as very significant.

A further 35.6 percent of whites and 20 percent of those of mixed race said the loss was somewhat significant.