Ah, the Pound vs dollar discussion.....

I think that the dollar's fall (based on reading the Economist and other such rags) is indeed playing a factor in situations like the tartan gift shop. I was recently in Costco and saw some GREAT deals on french wines. The euro's rise has hurt that industry as well. Plus, having a good growing season caused over-production. Anyway, most wineries, like kilt shops are indeed small business operations.

We forget how much crap (kilts, wine, cars, shoes, skis, etc) we Americans buy from abroad until we no longer feel comfortable buying it because of exchange rates. I think that the tartan gift shop's story is probably the first of several (unfortunately) in the coming months and years.

The USA is orders-of-magnitude a bigger market for kilt stuff compared to Scotland. Perhaps the owner of the tartan gift shop should consider re-locating to the US? It wouldn't be the first time someone found better fortunes in the USA compared to their "old country"