There is a couple of things to look at here. First on the kilts, there is definitely a market for the cheap kilts but they definitley should not be sold as the genuine article. The Tartan Authority should create a trademarked moniker that identifies the genuine article and then properly advertise it so locals a tourist alike know what to look for. The parliment should also create a labeling law to protect Scottish goods by requiring origin etc to be properly labeled and then enforce that law. Who knows they may already have one and it just isn't enforced.

Ok, but second (and back to to what I got out of the story) The Royal Mile is a dreadful mess. Certainly there are still the traditional shops selling genuine goods but most of the stores are selling tourist trash of low quality.(I am not refering to kilts at all) Unfortunately most of the traditional shops have had to bring in some of this garbage to compete. It used to be wonderful to walk along High Street and it was also a fine place to find genuine Scottish articles for yourself or for gifts but it has turned into a tourist trap. It has gotten very difficult to even see the history of the Royal Mile through all the tartan garbage for sale.

Granted I grew up in Edinburgh and like most people I liked my town the way it was, but even if you push that aside it has still gone too far.