Scottish Shops in Los Angeles / Southern California

[Timber Mick]

Can anyone point me in the right direction: looking for authentic Scottish shops in the LA area. Went down to the Queen Mary yesterday, and was embarassed for the 'Scottish Heritage Center' on board. Complete waste of time.
Looking to purchase a new sporan and a belt/buckle.

[seanachie]

I live in the southbay of LA. Is there a reason like time or convenience that you need to find a shop in LA? The reason I ask this is that there are plenty of great vendors for various needs right here that can ship to you. I have had good service from far and wide. I can't think of anyone right off the top of my head other than Sportkilt in this area but Skye Highland Outfitters in in Sacramento.

[Riverkilt]

Way too much good stuff for one shop to stock and make a profit. Even the glitzy on line "scottish shops" are often just middle men and place their order with the craftsman after you order from them.

Best to seek out the craftsman and deal direct. Plenty on board here and many more beyond that.

[Mark's Mom]

If you are willing to drive out of L.A. County, there is a place called R.P. Blandford and Sons in Rancho Cucamonga. (909) 483-1070 .

[sydnie7]

Blandford isn't what it used to be after the Blandfords retired and sold. There's a Scottish shop on Coronado (San Diego) with prices that reflect their real estate location. Useful to know where a brick-and-mortar shop is in case of "kilt hose emergency" or the like, but as others have said it's much, much better to check the reviews here and order the product you really want from the best vendor, not just settle for what the closest shop chooses to stock.

[1oldsarge]

The Tartan Patch is in Irvine down in Orange County....
http://stores.homestead.com/TheTarta...StoreFront.bok

[OC Richard]

People have beat me to it- I was going to suggest RP Blandford & Son in Rancho Cucamonga myself.

I'm rather biased, as I've been friends with the Blandford family since the late 1970s and mother Madelyn Blandford and son Kevin Blandford (both deceased) were the dearest of friends. Paul Blandford has sold the business to Cameron Tillery, a great guy.

True that the new location, in a business park, is rather sterile and has little of the funky charm of the original location in an old building in Redlands.

The place in Coronado is great also. I ordered my full tartan hose there and they came out fantastic! They fit better than any tartan hose I've had and they did an admirable job matching the difficult colours in my tartan.

[MacMillan's son]

If you don't find what you are looking for locally, I can highly recommend Wyvernleatherworks for your sporran needs.

http://www.wyvernleatherworks.com/

Best of luck!

[seanachie]

If you don't find what you are looking for locally, I can highly recommend Wyvernleatherworks for your sporran needs.

http://www.wyvernleatherworks.com/

Best of luck!

Donnie's sporrans are first rate and the craftsmanship is excellent, he is also great to work with. Obviously his workload determines how long it will take him to make the sporran but once it shipped I had it in around 3 or 4 days.

[Timber Mick]

Thanks, everyone: exactly the feedback I was looking for. I'll drive to Rancho Cucamunga on Saturday. if that doesn't pan out, I'll order online.

Cheers,

Mick