Relevance of the Scottish Store?

[BLAZN]

My nearest Scottish is only 175 miles away in Salt Lake City
traveling the other way its in Denver only 330 miles
such is life in the Rocky Mtns.

Gotcha beat... I've got 3000 miles of OCEAN and unknown amounts of land between myself and the nearest Scottish shop.

The only way I can get a kilt is to buy it online, sight unseen and using measurements taken NOT by a professional.


Frankly... for something like a sporran, I might be inclined to buy one at a store before I bought one online. I lack patience in a huge way, so I much prefer "instant gratification" over "hurry up and wait." Given that the mark up isn't too rediculous, the brick and mortar store gets my cash.
For something custom made, though, the online shop gets my money. Even with a professional taking my measurements, the mark up discourages me from the brick and mortar... especially when I can come someplace like X Marks the Scot and ask "how's this online purveyor of kilts rate?" which would prevent me from purchasing a low quality product.

[John M.]

Your star power strikes again Ham! Nice deal too.

[GlassMan]

My nearest Scottish Shop is the Scottish Merchant in Alexandria, about a 15 minute drive away as long as there's no traffic. The prices there are a little higher than online but not outrageously different on small things, like kilt hose. I've never ordered a kilt through them but I have bought accessories. I love going down there to look at merchandise, etc... And I have to admit that I rarely leave without having purchased something.

Personally, I'm rather impressed that the price difference is as low as it is because they are in Old Town Alexandria where the rents are outrageous.

Even though I do a fair amount of shopping online (and my stained glass business depends on online shoppers for a huge part of its income) I still try to support my local shop as much as I can.

[Joe Gondek]

Growing up in the D.C. area I remember Old Town Alexandria before it became yuppied
I used to vist the Interarms shop ther and the whole area was
pretty run down.
I've been back since and couldn't believe the change?

[Colin]

To cap it all, when he asked for my name for reference, I told him Hamish Bicknell from West Sussex, he asked, "You are known as Ham. aren't you? Someone told me about you months ago, and suggested I took a look at your photo album. I was very impressed." We then spoke for a few minutes about the Kollection (and "X Marks..." - but he doesn't have access to a computer so I doubt we'll be hearing from him!) before he told me that, "under the circumstances" he would be pleased to waive the postal charge of £9.95 - should I honour his shop with the order! How could I refuse? I checked my measurements, grabbed my MasterCard and called him back. Now I have 6-7 weeks of 'jonesing' !!

It's true, you wouldn't believe the deals I get when I tell people my name is Hamish Bicknell, too. (I would never....)
Only you Hamish could get the delivery fee waived based on your reputaiton. I am very jealous of the Saltire kilt. I can't wait to see photos and hear a review.

[KiltedKnight]

My nearest Scottish supply store is about 25 miles away in Long Beach California but it might as well be on Mars. I was talked into buying an 8 yard 16 oz. Macleod of Harris and was promised 'The best kilt you can get for the money and from the best kilt makers in all of Scotland" I paid the premium- $635.00 and was told that since the "Best kiltmaker in all of Scotland was backed up it would take 20 to 40 weeks. It took 56 weeks tatal but in the mean time I ordered a 13 oz. 8 yard and some other articles from The Scotland Yard and had it all within 8 weeks. The ONLY difference between the two kilts besides the tartan was the weight. Again, I'll never buy anything from any Scottish shop near the Queen Mary unless it comes from the SCottish festival in February. I think that those who live in SoCal know what I mean.
Shop around or get burned.

Chris.

[Riverkilt]

So many pros and cons. Plenty of scams to fall into on line. That's the beauty and joy of this board. Sharing great finds and giving warnings of scams.

At least with a shop it might stay in business and you'd have some recourse - but most shops are middlemen, few sell their own products.

And, its the same on the Internet. There are a lot of Internet sellers that are essentially jobbers. They don't carry stock. When you order, they order from the manufacturer and pass it on to you. Sometimes they even drop ship direct from the manufacturer to you. Locharron kilt hose are an example. Widely offered, seldom stocked, usually ordered as needed.

Whenever I can I try to order on line from the manufacturer. The Buzz Kidder kilts, shirts, and sporrans are an example. Many Internet sellers carry the product, but you can also order direct from BK - which I do since we're both in Arizona....except I found out they do a lot of their sporran making over in Texas. Go figure.

One of my things is not to order on line from outfits that don't give a physical address and phone number.

I do love to wander shops. And I do love to browse the vendors at games. But I know my prices and what I want like to buy at regular price to save the long delays. If I see it and need it and the price is right I'll buy. If something is on sale that I might need someday I'm liable to grab it up too. Otherwise, I'll just look to see the goods first hand and lurk for a good price.

So bottom line I most like the manufacturers that sell direct on line, enjoy the shops and games vendors when I can get a deal or get a fair price on goods I need. I have little use for the Internet vendors who offer everything but don't really stock it.

Ron

[mkmound]

I haven't looked back through this thread to see whether someone else has mentioned this, but one of the values which a local shop provides is a chance for a beginner to try on a kilt and start the jonesin' process . . .

I had started getting interested in the potential of Scottish family roots, and had been looking at various Scottish-related things on the net, and was beginning to get hooked on the idea of how cool kilts looked, and wanting one. About this time, I went to New York on a business trip around the end of January (I think about six years ago).

I was taking the shuttle to my Manhattan hotel from the airport, and we were on Park Ave. or Fifth Ave. near Grand Central Station in the early evening. I saw a man walking down the street in a full Argyll kilt outfit, probably on the way to a Burns Night celebration -- I was just barely able to keep myself from shouting "STOP!!!" and jumping off the bus to meet the man and talk to him! I probably would have abandoned my luggage and everything else in the process, and scared the guy witless!

The next day I asked the concierge whether there was a Scottish shop nearby. He found one for me, and after work, I walked over and tried on a kilt. It felt really great, and I never wanted to take it off. I knew instantly that I had to have one . . . the immediate hurdle was the price of the kilt and the rest of the outfit, so the jones began . . . (this was before we had SO many options, from UKs to USAKs to many others).

When I got home, I increased my net searches, and came across Tom's Cafe . . . and "got to know" Hamish and others . . . and eventually ended up here (thanks, Hank!!!).

So the stores are "The Candy Man"! :rolleyes:

Regards,
Mark

[IEScotsman]

As someone who just bought their first kilt, here's my take on it. Oh yeah - I probably bought it from the Scottish shop Colin referenced in the first post.

Yes, their prices are much higher than anything else I've seen. Fortunately for them, I was in a hurry and needed this kilt for my wedding. But I've received some things that give me the value for what I paid. The staff was incredibly knowledgeable and walked this rookie through every item and procedure of his first kilt. Secondly, my kilt has a lifetime warranty. For the rest of my life, cleanings and alterations of any kind are free. Not bad. And I can drop it off instead of mailing it to a far away place.

If you value customer service, a great atmosphere and top-quality products, I absolutely recommend this particular store. That is (or at least should be) the value of a "mom an' pop" store. But if your main concern is price, eBay away! I don't know if I'll get my next kilt from the store, but I'm at least considering it for the service alone.

[Barclay]

Out of curiousity, how many people have a Scottish shop that sells Highland wear near by? I have one within 15 minutes, one downtown Vancouver, and a few others locally.

Talk about lucky! My local Scot shop is The Scottish Tartans Museum shop. I think most of us know how knowledgeable and nice the manager of that store is.

While I do but stuff online, I have bought a good deal of my kit from Matt, including 4 kilts (with 2 more to be ordered soon), sporrans, hose, belts, etc. While the prices may be a bit higher, though I've not found them to be prohibitively higher, I find a lot of comfort in knowing that if I have a problem or an issue I can call or show up at Matt's door and ask him to fix it and I know that he will - I'm not so sure that the same is true of online vendors, necessarily. Besides, every single time that I'm in Matt's shop I come away knowing something new about history, a tartan, our shared heritage, etc. That kind of knowledge, not to mention the friendship that's built over time, is
worth the extra dollars. I also like that Matt is extremely focused on quality and offers only high quality goods which will naturally be a bit more expensive.

I'll still buy stuff online - online vendors like Jerry at Stillwater have always provided a great product for a great price. But I'll always buy some stuff locally because I like Matt, I like Matt's products, and I always look forward to spending time in Matt's store. And he offers service that no online vendor can match. My hat is off to Matt, Ronan and Chuck.