Relevance of the Scottish Store?

[Cawdorian]

Gil,

Thanks, I did edit my post to correct my tap of the wrong key.

I am not familiar with the shop in Gainesville, someone told me about "The British Shoppe" in Norcross, but I have never been able to locate it. Some shops are strictly online operations and have no "storefront".

[KiltedKnight]

It's always best to shop around and check prices. You can always find something at a much cheaper price somewhere else. One Scottish store has a particular sporran for sale at $700.00 that is sold at another Scottish store for $450.00, I asked the store owner if his price was a mistake but he never answered me, I consider that very snooty and therefore I will not deal with him.

I think that everyone could find some kind of problem with their local Scottish shop if they look hard enough. We have one here in Long Beach, California that just can't seem to get it right 100% of the time but I don't think they're trying since they know that they're the only one within a stone's throw of Los Angeles.

The good thing about it is that I don't have to frequent it and I don't anymore because of longer than promised wait periods and snooty salespeople. I even tell others to be careful when dealing with any stores that I have had bad experiences with and I doubt that I'm not alone. Perhaps these store keepers don't realize that they lose so much by word of mouth?


Chris.

[Canadian_Kilt]

Colin, I deal with the exact same problem with my local shop. I'm sure some have read my past posts on here about it. When I decided I wanted to wear a kilt for my wedding, I initially drove down the 2 local shops to inquire about rentals. They were nice and all but I really wanted to wear my family tartan, which you can't rent. So I inquired about purchasing one at the shop I liked (the other one was very substandard IMO). They offer both 5 yard and 8 yard kilts, which in my case meant 6 yard or 9 yard. They were priced at $625 and $945 respectively. I was shocked and went away to scour the web. After a few weeks, discovering x-marks and all the other vendors out there I knew their prices were very high, but I was very concerned about ordering this kind of stuff online. It's for my wedding. I needed it to fit, I needed it to get here on time, and to be correct. I had some discussions with the owner there about it. He was able to move on his price a bit, and ate the sales tax. That still left it about $250 more than I could have gotten it online, which normally would not have been good enough, but because of the circumstances, that, to me, bought peace of mind, so I ordered it from them, and have since received it - early, fitting perfectly, and exactly what I asked for.

I spoke to him in length about their online competition. Much of his arguments were that he felt the quality of the online vendors were not the same. I pointed out that that can't be true because the products are coming from the same place. In the end I think the conclusion we came to was that the difference between him buying from his wholesalers and me buying online is this - a business appears to pay a higher duty than individuals do. The normal duty on any clothing imported to Canada is 18%, for them it is 22%. On top of that, they have to pay fairly expensive customs brokerage fees for each shipment - around $80-100 normally. Plus, he has a store to maintain, so his markup has to be higher .. although many of the online shops have physical shops as well.

But, when I asked him if he thought the online stores were cutting in to his business, his response was - "Are you kidding me? I can't make them fast enough". He sells hundreds of kilts a year, and tons of accessories, and makes a very handy living at it. Biggest thing for him though is he is the supplier for several pipe bands.

I think the comments above are correct - The local stores are doing just fine, because we represent a pretty small percentage of the normal population of those seeking highland merchandise. We take the time, research all the options and are willing to go to more lengths to get things for cheaper. Many people do not take that time, or think online shopping - especially overseas - is not worth the hassle. Frankly, depending on the price difference, I tend to agree. That said, I ordered my Sporran online - partially because it was a bit cheaper, and partly because I liked what I found online better. I would certainly never dream of buying another kilt from them at their prices though.

[MacWage]

The one in Norcross is mostly food and general Brit trinkets.
I've never heard of the one in Gainesville, GA.
I keep thinking there used to be one somewhere on the north eastern half of Atlanta (yes, I said it that way on PURPOSE), but can't recall where.

I like to support local whenever possible, but the only "local" shop open who has not irritated me is the Scot Tartan Museum (3 hours away). The other's aren't much closer (one is not really far from Frankin) and a few are further away. The other "close" is in Akin, SC (but I've only made it there once and had a pleasant experience. I need to go back sometimes, but it isn't near ANYTHING I frequent.) Some of us MUST use internet to get anything. However, IF I could find a shop w/in 30 minutes (or even an hour!) I would shop regularly. I guess the problem is that I like in the middle of the country (woods). OH WELL . . .

[IEScotsman]

I can't believe how hard it seems to be for those of you in the Southern USA to find a good Scottish shop. You have the highest concentration of Scots ancestry anywhere in the country! Maybe a few should band together and open one that understands customer service.

[auld argonian]

I have yet to check out the one shop in nearby Summit, Illinois...

...the one that's in a town near the Illinois/Wisconsin border has gotten some play here but it's been criticism for showing their kilt outfits badly on their web pages...

...it's tough...I was speaking to the proprietor of one of the biggest camera stores in Chicago about how much of a bite the internet has taken out of his business.

Best

AA

[MacWage]

I can't believe how hard it seems to be for those of you in the Southern USA to find a good Scottish shop. You have the highest concentration of Scots ancestry anywhere in the country! Maybe a few should band together and open one that understands customer service.

Any backers?

[Splash_4]

Just to come to the defense of the local shop a little bit (of course, my local shop is a three hour drive to Franklin, NC) Because I am new to highland wear, I was very interested in a number of things. Having a real life person to ask the questions of and one who was willing to spend a couple of hours with my wife and I was a real bonus. Likewise, this same individual has spent time on the computer answering the blizzard of emails I have sent his way asking questions about various items.

So all this to say, Thank you Matt Newsome!

[Canadian_Kilt]

Just to come to the defense of the local shop a little bit (of course, my local shop is a three hour drive to Franklin, NC) Because I am new to highland wear, I was very interested in a number of things. Having a real life person to ask the questions of and one who was willing to spend a couple of hours with my wife and I was a real bonus. Likewise, this same individual has spent time on the computer answering the blizzard of emails I have sent his way asking questions about various items.

So all this to say, Thank you Matt Newsome!

This was another reason I wound up buying my kilt at my shop. They are extremely nice, friendly and helpful people and definately worked hard to earn my business.

You'll never have to defend independant businesses with me. My father has been an independant retailer his entire life, and our family will always go to great lengths to support small businesses over large chains and online stores. Unfortunately there is still a point where you have to sit back and look after yourself as well. If my guys kilts and such were 10% more than everything on the net, I would buy from him every time .. but they're closer to 50% more .. and that's not something I can swallow.

[AZKilts]

Hi Colin,
Can I please ask if the prices quoted on the brochure from Palm Springs was in Canadian or US Dollars