Gold Brothers, aka...

[Urchurdan]

One of my kilts is a woollen 16oz kilt kilt made by Heritage, and it is a fine kilt, my other kilts are hand made by our local kilt maker, and the quality of the Heritage is almost as good as them, the price being less of course.
So, I agree with those that say you get what you pay for, personally, I think it is great that most people who want a kilt, can now afford one, and they are not as exclusive as they once were.
I personally wouldn't wear one of their cheap kilts, but then I wouldn't go to a football match either, if I did, I agree with the comment that I wouldn't like to wear an expensive kilt to some of these outings anyway.
It can't be disputed that they have bought kilts to the masses, where they are made, and if if its ethical to call them Scottish is another matter.
The fact these cheap kilts are on the market, won't stop people like us going for quality I would think ??

[Phil]

Or is it down to the fact that the Gold Brothers, who are shrewd businessmen, have seen a market, have moved in aggressively, and are resented by some Scots who don't like the fact that some non-ethnic Scots have bested them at their own game?

I haven't joined in this particular discussion yet but have followed it with interest. I will ignore the "ethnic" aspect as I truly believe it to be totally irrelevant and one aspect that I hope was not raised to incite extremist views. As a Scot, however, and a resident of Edinburgh I find the whole appearance of the Gold Bros shops tacky and their insistence on playing loud music constantly into the surrounding streets offensive, to say the least. Thankfully I neither have to live or work in close proximity to any of their establishments but some of those that do have expressed their frustration at the Edinburgh Council which seems to totally ignore what can only be described as environmental noise pollution. I remind you that they have instructed the police to prosecute pipers busking on the Royal Mile.
Whether or not people continue to be misled by labelling which verges on the deliberately dishonest and is undoubtedly designed to deceive the unwary is, sadly, something that our Trading Standards officers feel unable or unwilling to pursue and it has to come down to "buyer beware" which is really an un-principled manner for any firm in which to conduct its business. That they rely mainly on the tourist trade means that they need have no genuine concern for their customers who are unlikely to ever return but who will retain an abiding belief in the shoddiness of shopping in Edinburgh - one that they will no doubt pass on to as many friends and acquaintances as possible.

[ForresterModern]

I own two HOS machine sewn 8yd wool kilts and they are comparable with similar kilts from a couple other retailers I have purchased from, and only a bit less well fitted and finished than the now two handsewns that I own. I also have an Argyll tweed jacket and waistcoat from them that fits and looks well, although definitley not to the degree that a tailored one would. Hey, what can you expect from ordering online from across the ocean where the most non-experienced person (me ) measures himself and sends those measurements to someone else to make up a jacket. It still looks good, but could use a little bit of tailoring, not enough to go out of my way to get it done. Beside several other less expensive but reasonable quality items, I have also ordered two different custom run rare fabrics when they were having special fabric sales, and got great prices on essential 8 mtr os SW or 4 mtr of DW fabric. In both cases, although it was listed as in stock material available from well known mills, they were both out of stock and needed to be customed by those mills as special order. They notified me promplty of the issue and inherent delay, asked if I still wanted the material, and then got it made up promptly, and delivered in a timely fashion. One of the two, supposed to only be available in 13 oz fabric, actually was made up in 16oz weight with no extra charge. Both pieces are great quality frabric, one of which has already been made into a handsewn by Bonnie Heather and the other fabric still awaiting a kiltmakers needle. I have not bought any of the typical touristy tat that they sell most prominently in their stores, although I have spent a couple days in Edinburgh on the Royal mile and shopped in their Royal Mile and Princes Street shops, where I think I might have bought a couple clearence pile pairs of cheap flashes and a touristy Nessie bib for my infant son, but no serious kilt related items, although they did have a small amount of them mixed in with the tat.

I think their shops are no different than similar tourist trap shops in major tourist sites around the world I have visited, from ski resorts to beach towns, Spain to Greece to France to Germany, except for the fact that the GB stores are associated with websites that attempt to sell "genuine" scottish heritage clothing and paraphernalia, and do carry some of that budget end paraphernalia in their tourist trap shops as well. I agree with Phil, I find the loud music played outside their shops personally offensive, enough to drive me away or to cross the street to avoid the noise, and I am surprised that the local authorities have not cited them for noise violations, particulalry the Princes Street shop.

In my opinion it is another example of caveat emptor--buyer beware---but in this case we are in general dealing with unknolwedgeable tourists. The rest of us here can consider ourselves more knowledgeable on the subject and choose to be more careful with our shopping, but I would not exclude HoS from my list of possible vendors because of the rest of their businesses (unless they were selling nuclear materials to North Korea or something liek that). I am, however, influenced a bit by some of the press about GB selling items in certain copyrighted tartans without paying for the copyrights, and when I find that the case my tendencies to desire to use their services will fall. If a vendor is skirting the law in one part of their businesses you must by association consider that they are likely doing the same in their others, whether or not that is true. That is where a reputation is born and justified and earned, and reputation is a hard thing to fix once it is tarnished. I am also bothered, like most of the native scots who have commented on this and similar threads, that the Royal Mile, an historic district if there ever was one, has become so overrun with similar tourit trap shops that visually degrade, IMHO, the overall charm of this otherwise lovely town.

[Iolaus]

[....] That they rely mainly on the tourist trade means that they need have no genuine concern for their customers who are unlikely to ever return but who will retain an abiding belief in the shoddiness of shopping in Edinburgh - one that they will no doubt pass on to as many friends and acquaintances as possible.

If they are relying on the tourist trade for the majority of their business, then I submit that 99% of those kilts are never going to see the light of day again, beyond maybe the office Halloween party the next year. Those customers are only looking for a souvenir to show their family and then toss into a drawer, to be pulled out to show their grandchildren 30 years later. They don't care where it was made, or how well; they really only care about where they bought it. They are getting exactly what they are paying for - a souvenir.

[Foxgun Tom]

Jings, crivens, ma boab!!! as "Oor Wullie" would say? this thread is definately going of topic!! I just think, this is weird, smacks of big brother watching and is verging on a witchhunt, checking electoral registers to verify peoples identities who post on forums?? (whats that all about), there are thousands of scots, who in my opinion and too there shame are not on the electoral register. As for east european working in Scotland its no big deal!! many Scots live and work in Eastern Europe. I have many friends and so do other Scots who are from different cultures and backgrounds who use an English sounding name or "nom de plume" that happens and its an accepted fact that this happens very frequently.

Do you have any evidence that this company are paying less than minimal wage (why raise this as an issue?), which as!! you probably know is illegal and contrary to employment legislation in the UK or was that thrown into the discussion just for debate or to cause insult as a result of mischief making? please believe me Highlander Daz I'm not meaning to either stir trouble or upset you!! just wondering whats your train of thought in coming to posting comments re: East European Employees and Asian sounding names.

Tom

Ps: I bet you won't find Highlander Daz or Foxgun Tom on any electoral register in Scotland, but you will find me registered as Thomas William Boyd Chalmers in the Paisley South constituency

Pps: "A man's a man for a' that" still have'nt discovered what a non-ethnic Scot is, will some-one please enlighten me??

[highlander_Daz]

Nor am I tom , It was Heather that came on here offering to answer our questions, Ive never suggested that GB are paying anyone less than minimum wage, I simply asked if they are. I am puzzled why the vast majority of employees are from Eastern europe, so I have asked why, Mods if any of my questions are inappropriate feel free to say so, however Heather did come and offer to answer our questions, Tom dont try and play the race card, Im simply taking Heather up on her offer to answer our questions, Im sure the similar questions are in other peoples minds, I am not affiliated or associated with any business that trades in a similar line of products as GB,
a glance at 192.com hardly constitutes a witchhunt or "big brother" .

who mentioned non - ethnic Scots tom?
mods if your not happy then stamp your big red stamp

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Pps: "A man's a man for a' that" still have'nt discovered what a non-ethnic Scot is, will some-one please enlighten me??

Tom-- I'd like to avoid taking this further off topic so please PM me if you would like an explanation.

[Panache]

Folks,

There is a big difference between honest questions and unpleasant accusations.

Let's keep it polite, let's keep it fair, and let's keep it friendly.

There has also been a very uncomfortable focus on the ethnicity of the Gold Brothers instead of an honest discourse about the products that their shops sell.

Now we have a troll that keeps trying to sneak back into XMTS every now and again that feels that kilts are only to be worn by Highland Scots, born in Scotland, and living in Scotland.

According to him everyone else is an idiot and he likes to say so

He isn't exactly a standard bearer for the good things xmarksthescot.com represents and thus we have felt the need to protect the membership here from his "contributions"

So can we take ethnicity off the table? It doesn't speak well of XMTS as an international forum.

If we can't put a better foot forward on this subject then it may be that this thread has run its course.

So please note




WE ARE WATCHING


Cheers

Jamie and the Mod Squad

[Panache]

One other thing

Regarding names

Is it really so strange that an individual or group might change their name to better market themselves?

I can't help but think about a very handsome, very dapper, and very cool actor who thought that "Archibald Leach" didn't have the right ring to it for a movie star

Just a thought

Cheers

Jamie

[Phil]

Is it really so strange that an individual or group might change their name to better market themselves?

Nothing strange whatsoever and it happens all the time in the acting profession. I certainly don’t believe that Gold Bros. re-named themselves in order to deceive but their reasons for so doing, especially given their sometimes questionable labelling practices must raise doubts about their overall integrity. It is perfectly conceivable that they may have considered that names easily recognised as being from the Indian sub-continent might not, therefore, be thought of as being experts in the field of Scottish highland dress. They do, however, seem to have a certain degree of economy when it comes to the truth as to the source of many of their products and I can see why this would lead to someone raising doubts about other aspects of their business practices and, in particular, the public persona they aim to present.
As a result I consider it perfectly reasonable for Highlander Daz to take “Heather McCain” and the statements “she” makes on behalf of this organisation with a very generous pinch of salt as neither anything in my personal experience nor what I have seen or read both here and elsewhere has done anything to persuade me to the contrary.