i wondered whether the closure was part of a 'bigger' problem at head office (assuming there is one), or whether ther business model of flogging very high end gear at very high end prices with very little in the way of outdoor staples - stoves, gas canisters, foam sleeping matts, pegs or any other of the camping 'consumables' that tempt people into spending money - had been shown to be a bit of a silly idea?
i'm afraid i only used it for two things: trying on high end gear and then buying it somewhere cheaper (though not neccesarily online), and for when i wanted to become twisted with rage that having remembered that i'd forgotton to bring some vital - but cheap - part of my camping weekend, i'd pull into an enormous 'outdoor' shop just off the A82 to find that it sold nothing of the 'little' things i might need (and regularly spend money on), only £300 jackets that i might buy every 5 years.
rant over, i'm very sorry for the staff - particularly as that area is blighted by unemployment - but it was a shop with its head firmly stuck up its arse, IMVHO of course....
Knowing many folk who worked there over the years, I know that latterly none of the shop floor staff were in any way knowledgable about the outdoors. Not their fault, they just got the job.
There is also a very interesting back story about the original owners who left the shops jacket hanging on a shaky nail.
They had good brands, a nice shop, but they didn't stand a chance.
Come on ptc*, you're not going all Anglified are you, surely that should be a shoogly nail.
Have to agree though, while I did pop in there occasionally on the way up north I honestly can't think of any time I actually bought anything.
Off topic but I've also heard that Field & Trek have opened a shop in Ayr - not sure if that's a good thing or not. Still I guess it's better than nothing especially as Tiso has closed it's shop there.
