Tat's the way to do it

Published on Wednesday 22 August 2007 12:43

THEIR kitsch gift shops have been lambasted and accused of ruining the Royal Mile.

But today the Gold Brothers proudly defended their chain of "tartan tat" shops which are on the verge of making them millionaires.

Malap Singh Gold freely admitted the 20 kilts, "See you Jimmy" hats, Nessie dolls and tartan rugs they sell are "tat", and that some of their Royal Mile shop fronts look "cheap".

But he said their stores are giving tourists what they want and said he was proud of the family's business success.

Mr Singh Gold - whose father Gurbuchen started the business from a market stall at East Fortune in the 1970s - revealed the family now own ten shops in and around the Royal Mile.

He said: "Where the public want to buy tat we put tat and where they want quality gear we put quality gear.

"You can go to any historic site in the world and you'll find these types of shops. We give people what they can afford and we're keeping Scotland's heritage going because they can buy a kilt they can afford.

"Everybody can dream of owning a Ferrari but only a few can afford one."

The 40-year-old businessman spoke out today in the wake of mounting concerns about the growing number of "tartan tat" gift shops on the Royal Mile.

Celebrated kiltmaker Geoffrey Nicholsby even claimed the shops were guilty of "cultural rape" by undercutting traditional goods made by Scottish craftsmen by selling cheaper goods made overseas.

Mr Singh Gold said that while some of the family's shops sold cheaper souvenirs, others sold high-quality goods. The family's John Morrison Kiltmakers supplies the Scots Dragoon Guards and their Barnet shoes store is a supplier to the Queen.

He said that, as well as their ten city stores, his brothers Surinder, 44, and Galab, 30, and nephew Dildar, 24, own two shops in Kirkcaldy, three online stores and rent 15 properties across the Capital.

Mr Singh Gold, who has worked with his brothers for 15 years and now oversees the group's flagship building at Castlehill, said: "If people want quality they can go further down the Royal Mile. At the Castle they just want fridge magnets and keyrings.

"We have to give customers what they want and we have to make some of the shops look cheap so that we can attract the customers in. It's all about using marketing techniques to lure your prey. It's called flash - a big spread, stuff outside the shop that they want, and they come in."

Galab Singh Gold added: "Compare Edinburgh against some of the major European and world cities. They are beautiful with lovely boutique shopping, but all of these cities also have a large selection of 'traditional souvenir shops' with their own style and budget prices."

Business leaders expressed mixed feelings about the Gold Brothers' stores.

Graham Russell, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses in Edinburgh, said he had concerns about "kilts" being made overseas.

He said: "If you buy a kilt there is a belief that it has come from Scotland, otherwise it's not a kilt.

"People are buying something that doesn't have the credibility to be called Scottish."

But Ron Hewitt, chief executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, praised the family's success, despite his concerns about traditional crafts-people struggling on the Royal Mile.

He said: "The Chamber of Commerce will never criticise successful businesses and clearly the Gold Brothers are successful.

"But there should be incentives for those producing a higher quality. We don't want our prime street swamped by poor quality."