Gold Brothers, aka...

[Monkey@Arms]

Geoffrey Nicholsby, a kiltmaker who has fitted out the likes of Charlton Heston and Mel Gibson, claimed the shops were guilty of "cultural rape". - from the Scotsman's article:
Ban on 'Queen's tartan' sales over breach of copyright law

Meh, that is an old article. The headline is deceptive as the case doesn't involve "the Queens tartan." I seem to remember the parties settled their commercial dispute over the unauthorized use of the Isle of Skye tartan, but don't care enough to do a search myself. The feud between Nicholsby and the Gold Bros is well known (and well publicized by Mr. Nicholsby.)

Best regards,

Jake

[Riverkilt]

Call me a slow poke, but I fail to understand the need to market under so many different names....

[ForresterModern]

Ron

You obviously missed one of the marketing classes in school where they taught you that if you are selling relatively low quality low price goods the best way to corner the market is to flood the market with multiple venues of sale. Check out the t-shirt shops in all the ski villages, or our own country's famous landmarks with souvenir villages adjacent. The more stores you have in a lucrative market the higher percentage of customers you see and the greater your overall profit. Like a Walgreens on every other corner in some cities, and CVS in others.

The rest of this "rant" is not directed at Ron. A lot of the GB products are undeniably budget end quality-wise, but they also sell good quality merchandise alongside the other, it just takes a knowledgeable eye to tell them apart, which most tourist customers lack. I have purchased three heavyweight 8yard kilts and two tartan fabric pieces at exceptional prices, along with other accessories also at good prices. Service thus far has been good, and I have personally exchanged several confirmatory emails with the HOS representative here on xmarks, Heather MacCain, in relation to these orders. My kilts have been inspected by a native scot kiltmaker and kilt hire expert as well as a well known US handmade kilt maker, all of whom estimated their quality as high for machine made kilts and overestimated their values by 50-100% of what I paid for them. I hear the same stories everybody else does about illegal tartan use and flooding the market with tartan tat, and unfortunatley where there is smoke there is usually fire so I would not doubt that there is at least some truth in the stories. But they are simple marketeers making the best they can in an open market. They may be putting old time classic kiltmakers out of business, and that saddens me as much as the next man to see that skill lost. Unfortunately that is the way of a market economy. Fewer and fewer people are buying fewer and fewer handmade kilts, save for those on this site. I am personally moving my way up the quality ladder, expecting my first two handmade kilts in the next month or so, in large part because of this forum, which has taught me a lot about kilts and the kilt history, and the business. I hope I am doing my part to keep all makers of quality kilts in business. But one man (excluding Hamish of course) can only have so many kilts. And even the scots here themselves admit that most of them only have one or two kilts, in their family tartan, and replace them a few times per lifetime due to girth changes. And fewer and fewer scots are wearing the kilt, many of them only on hire for very special occasions. I think the GB are only tapping a market of kiltwearers who otherwise would not wear the kilt at all (too expensive) or tourists who similarly would not likely drop the cost of a quality wool kilt on the whim of a tourist visit. Even those who do buy wool kilts from them are doing thier part in keeping the likes of the woolen mills making the raw materials and the subcontractor kiltmakers employed making them. If ebay's boboliscious can sell a machine sewn 8 yd 16oz kilt for around $200US, I guess that is where the market lays, and the GB and other kiltmakers may need to reset their market marks.

One man's opinion.

[Buckskin]

Ron

. If ebay's boboliscious can sell a machine sewn 8 yd 16oz kilt for around $200US, I guess that is where the market lays, and the GB and other kiltmakers may need to reset their market marks.

One man's opinion.

I too have been climbing the quality ladder, as I mature as a kilty. I have far less expensive and far more, than the one I have from boboliscious. But, I would certainly call it the best VALUE of all my kilts!
One other man's opinion[IMG][/IMG]

[NorCalPiper]

Man-Look how smokin hot you look in that ensemble!!!

[gilmore]

Who is boblishious (of eBay quality kilt fame) affiliated with? It seems from the link given earlier that he is not affiliated with the Gold Bros. He produces quality kilts at a reasonable price and I'm most impressed with his service.

Scotty

My understanding is that he contracts with several kiltmakers on his own, and takes orders for kilts on EBay. But I could be wrong. I have two kilts from him, and they are quite well done.

[Boy's war]

The Gold brothers do not employ anyone by the name of Heather MaCain.
There is a Scottish MP, the first of his kind. He made history, things can only get better. First Govan, then Glasgow Central. He won, the son did not.
Anagrams....!

[Dardanelles]

The Gold brothers do not employ anyone by the name of Heather MaCain.
There is a Scottish MP, the first of his kind. He made history, things can only get better. First Govan, then Glasgow Central. He won, the son did not.
Anagrams....!

Hi Chris, spot on, I think the keyword is U. Wholesales. Got told that a while back.
Anagrams.....anagrams!

[Riverkilt]

Boy am I ever confused....no clue obviously....especially the most recent posts.

As to multiple outlets still seems a ruse to me to "capture" unsuspecting newbies.

As to where the "market" lays. Perhaps it is in the range mentioned. But I doubt there's a man who's ever sprung for a top of the line hand sewn kilt in his clan tartan who isn't forever "spoiled" by that quality garment and reluctant to purchase lower end kilts other than for knocking around in.

Ron

[Phogfan86]

My understanding is that he contracts with several kiltmakers on his own, and takes orders for kilts on EBay. But I could be wrong. I have two kilts from him, and they are quite well done.

Correct. They seem to have a nice cooperative going. I'm debating a SWK heavyweight next -- I've heard so many good things -- or saving the extra $70 and going with bobalicious.

My beef with Gold Bros is all the copyrighted tartans they produce without permission, including the Princess of Wales tartan.