Elizabeth Jones for The Bermudian Magazine, Issue Fall 2023
Gill Farge started her business in the back of her car 40 years ago and it has evolved to be the island’s largest supplier of lifestyle products.
For forty years, Island Trading, now run by Laura Farge-Lowe, daughter of retired president Gill Farge, has been the place in Bermuda to buy top-of-the-line luxurious lounge furniture and home décor items. It has also been the key source for swimming pool products, rainwear and safety products, such as hard hats and gloves. This spacious store, with Spurling the mannequin sitting outside, is such a familiar landmark on Reid Street Extension, it’s difficult to imagine its lowly beginnings in the back of Gill Farge’s car when she and her husband Roger were parents of two young daughters. Gill began her business by buying the stock from Bermuda Industrial Gases Ltd, which was closing down (and located just across the road from Island Trading’s present location!) and became responsible for ordering swimming pool chemicals, rainwear and safety products, contacting forwarders, clearing customs and delivering orders. With three-year-old Laura and one-year-old Emma strapped in the back of the car, she would make deliveries to hotels and organisations all over the island.
Read the full article at thebermudian.com
