The ScotlandShop Queensferry Street Story Part 2: The Launch

A few thanks were said at the opening but given that I was shouting over the noise of the buses and general chaos of Queensferry Street and I doubt anyone could hear a word I was saying I will take this opportunity to repeat my thanks. Duffy Mclean were the shopfitters who worked into the wee hours to have it all ready in time. What a lovely bunch of guys to work with and if you visit I am sure you will agree the quality of their work is pretty impressive. The split slate on the front of the counter and in the window fits the heritage and history of our tartans so well and is one of my favourite elements of the shopfit, and we have to credit Lee Mclean with that idea.

The legend that is Doddie Weir joined us to do the honours and ensure the press appeared to take a million photos. I am quite tall but no-one can make me feel little like Doddie and resplendent in the 2 tartan suit we made him a few years ago he was at his very best. The suit is based on tartan from Doddie's mother's side of the family and combines MacFarlane Modern and MacFarlane Hunting Modern in various sections to great effect, definitely one of our favourite creations and there is only one man who can carry it off. We have a special tailoring area within the shop should you wish to create something equally special!

We lunched on the most delicious canapés from L'Escargot Blanc a few doors down and raised a glass of bubbly from Oddbins a few doors up so the event was very much a West End affair. Special features within the shop include 130 little drawers behind the counter containing over 500 hundred tartan fabric samples for you to peruse whether you are searching for you tartan by family name, clan or colour. My children deserve a mention for all those boxes of stock they carried up and down the stairs, the hours of swatch cutting to fill these little drawers and the fact that their mother has been largely absent over the summer holidays unless they hopped in the tartan van and joined me coming up and down the road. The basement was painted by my mum who thought she was coming for a nice Sunday afternoon out to view the progress of the new shop and then ended up donning overalls and helping out. This level of teamwork is what ScotlandShop is all about and if you order with us you can expect a similar level of effort and care and attention.

And last but most certainly not least the ScotlandShop team who have worked loads of extra hours and endured all sorts of chaos as we changed systems and barcoded and re-jigged roles and responsibilities to ensure we maintain our top quality standards of customer service. Not photographed and back at the Duns HQ keeping everything running smoothly on Tuesday, Niki, Auryn and Lucy had to raise a glass from afar. New shop manager, Emma (second from the right), deserves an enormous thank you for the mountains of work she has done to make the shop look so beautiful. Merchandising and colour blocking are all new to me sitting behind the desk of an internet business and the shop would not be what it is without Emma. She will be there to greet you at 10 Queensferry Street with her new team so you can ask her all about the journey.