Tiso £250k refit is 'commitment to Edinburgh'

TISO, the Edinburgh-based outdoor retailer, has pumped £250,000 into the refurbishment of one of its flagship stores in what its chief executive characterises as the chain's "long-term commitment" to the capital.

Two floors of the Rose Street store, from which Tiso has traded for more than 30 years, have been refitted with modern lighting, while automatic doors have been installed to cut energy bills.

Chris Tiso, who took over as chief executive of the family business in 1992, said similar systems already installed in its Belfast store were saving money. He expected the Edinburgh measures to pay for themselves within a year.

Tiso said: "This refit is part of our long-term commitment to Edinburgh city centre. We've got to look beyond short-term problems with the trams because this is a destination store."

Annual accounts for the group – which runs 13 Tiso stores in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland, plus three of its Alpine Bikes outlets and a George Fisher outdoor store in the Lake District – for the year to 31 January are expected next month. Tiso said the business had returned a "solid performance".

He added: "When we saw the trend for more people holidaying at home last summer, we began to stock up and got the right mix in camping equipment to cope with the demand."

The stores also benefited from the winter weather. Tiso said: "I'd be lying if I didn't say that all of our Christmases came at once. As you would expect, we had strong sales of jackets, hats, scarves and gloves. We ran out of sledges twice."