Tartan tat kings go Scottish

[highlander_Daz]

To be honest the only time I went in Howies shop i was enquiering for a price on a pipers doublet, the price I was quoted was VERY expensive and an attempt was made to persuade me to buy a SH one (complete with cigarette burn) for a very high price, I did however buy some ex hire cream hose for £2 for muddy funerals etc.

It really is frustrating to see the way the golds/singhes have turned symbols of Highland culture, Tartan, Kilts, Bagpipes etc. into ways of ripping people off.

[Alan H]

If people didn't buy them, they wouldn't be in business.

If people in Scotland hated everything about the Gold Brothers and their "form" of the national dress, they wouldn't rent them shop space or sell a building to them. The capacity to end the problem lies with the people in the area where they operate.

[RockyR]

If people didn't buy them, they wouldn't be in business.

If people in Scotland hated everything about the Gold Brothers and their "form" of the national dress, they wouldn't rent them shop space or sell a building to them. The capacity to end the problem lies with the people in the area where they operate.

it lies in the collective people in the area... the problem is that you'll almost ALWAYS have 1 or 2 people who are more interested in profit than the "collective good". That gives companies like the GB a foothold and it's all downhill.

Walmart can't get a foothold in Scotland and the people block them from opening stores when they try to come in. WIsh the sme could be done for the GB, but I fear they've too much power already.

[gilmore]

A brief perusal of the internet shows that Glen Isla Kilts did indeed manufacture kilts for the MOD, but little else. They do seem to have a business address in Motherwell, in Braehead Industrial Estate.

Does anyone have first or second hand experience with their kilts? What are they made of? What is the qualitiy of the workmanship?

[slohairt]

You're absolutely right and there is nothing that anyone can do about it.

Unless a conspiracy between two or more companies to fix prices in order to drive some other competitor out takes place, it's still a free market and anything goes.

You may note, however, that there are still Jaguar, Audi, BMW and Lexus dealers managing to stay in business in spite of the Chevy, Ford, Toyota and Kia dealers that seem to be thriving all around them. Sometimes you just have to face the fact that your product has appeal to one segment of the market and you will have to kiss the other segment or segments goodbye. Mr. Nicholsby seems to have the problem of providing a quality upscale product on a street where he's surrounded by shops bearing signs that say "Cheap Kilts Here!" in big day-glo letters (I've not seen this but I'm speaking figuratively here). Further frustrating him is this problem of the kilt being a Native Scottish art form that's being crowded out by foreign made versions...thus the idea of having some kind of certification of a product made in Scotland versus one made "overseas". What does the competition do? They find a local contractor and short circuit the whole "nation of origin" thing.

Kilt Wars: The Gold Brothers Strike Back.

Best

AA

True, but only one of those car companies is an independent company: BMW. Audi belongs to VW, Jaguar belongs to Ford, and Lexus is Toyota's luxury line.

[slohairt]

it lies in the collective people in the area... the problem is that you'll almost ALWAYS have 1 or 2 people who are more interested in profit than the "collective good". That gives companies like the GB a foothold and it's all downhill.

Walmart can't get a foothold in Scotland and the people block them from opening stores when they try to come in. WIsh the sme could be done for the GB, but I fear they've too much power already.

It would be nice, but I'm sure that other merchants (of other unrelated products) feel it is "good" for tourism.

[Coemgen]

Kilt Wars: The Gold Brothers Strike Back.

I hope Return of the Quality Kilts comes out soon.

[highlander_Daz]

youll find very few Scots in the gold bros shops, mostly tourists, as far as renting/owning property the gold Bros money spends just as well as anyone elses, and its one thing they have plenty of.

as for Walmart the call them selves ASDA here

[gilmore]

it lies in the collective people in the area... the problem is that you'll almost ALWAYS have 1 or 2 people who are more interested in profit than the "collective good". That gives companies like the GB a foothold and it's all downhill.

...

I doubt that's it.

Not only are tourists buying Gold Brothers kilts, but so are what is probably the largest market for kilts among Scots: the Tartan Army. If you go to TA websites and look at the pics of the kilts, you will notice that by far the majority of them are Gold Brothers'. Their synthetic colors stick out like sore thumbs. You see almost no identifiable tanks, which is understandable. Who would want to subject an expensive kilt to the stains and rough housing that happens at football games and related event?

The Gold Brothers, like it or not, are giving Scots something they want: cheap, every day kilts.

[Nighthawk]

"The maximum someone should be paying for a kilt is £200. Kiltmakers have had it too easy for too long." - Dildar Singh
That's a bit arrogant. The distinct difference between my more "budget concious" kilts and my tank is night and day. I really don't think a someone hand cutting, arranging and hand stitching a kilt from scratch is "having it easy", and I don't think $400 US is what that kind of time is worth.

I couldn't agree more! I paid almost $300 for a USAK (with ultra rush charges) and I feel like I got one heck of a deal! My SWK's are killer- for $80 each- but there is no comparison! If I'm paying less than $600 for an 8 yard hand made wool kilt, then I wonder what's wrong with it!