8 Yards was formally known as The Kilt Hire Co we began hiring & selling kilts in 1991, in the town of Musselburgh, on the East coast of Scotland. Our first premises were in one of the town's smallest shops, so small you could touch both walls at once!
Our reputation for keen pricing and commitment to excellent customer service quickly grew, with regular customers coming back time and time again to both hire and buy. Since those early days, we have expanded and moved premises three times in Musselburgh before finally settling in our very successful Bridge Street site.
In 1994 we expanded and opened our second store at Haymarket Terrace in central Edinburgh.
Our Edinburgh store was bursting at the seams with customers and stock. So much so that in April 1999, we expanded the store to incorporate the vacant unit next door, trebling the floor space and allowing us to not only offer a wider selection of kilts and highland wear but a superb selection of morning and evening wear as well.
April 2002 saw a further expansion of the business and a change of philosophy from individual stores with individual stock, to a central warehousing unit, located just outside Dalkeith. This is where all of our hired outfits are cleaned, prepared and dispatched to the branches for collection. We also opened a small retail space at the warehouse in Hardengreen, Dalkeith, to add to our existing stores.
Our new concept store in Dundee was opened in December 2005.
In September 2006 our corporate image was given a fresh, modern look and we refurbished our now flag-ship Haymarket branch, giving the store a feeling of more space and a contemporary vibe in keeping with today's modern High Street, totally different to any kilt store we have ever seen before. This bold new move has taken us into the next century.
Since summer 2018, The Kilt Store and Kilt Hire Co have been known as Eight Yards.
We aim to continue to build a successful business and a secure future for us all. To do this we need to set ourselves apart from the more throwaway, lesser-quality offers that now crowd our market. We need to continue to attract new, loyal customers across generations. Having lifelong customers is really important for keeping our business strong.
We already value the craft that goes into the menswear we sell and we work hard to make sure that our style and range are modern and relevant.
Our new name and brand build on these great qualities, allowing us to extend beyond kilt hire, to communicate more of our personality, the range we offer and the value of the service we provide.
The descriptor, Scottish Menswear, explains what we do and includes our core business of Kilt sales and hire, without excluding the rest of our range.
The name Eight Yards comes from the length of fabric traditionally needed to make a quality kilt. We’ve chosen this name because it gives a nod to the heritage we’re proud of and the craftsmanship we value. We are the same great team and the same great company. But this is a new era in our journey & this rebrand is a new telling of our traditional story.
We have created Eight Yards for men of all ages who appreciate quality, tradition and craft. Like us, our customers refuse to be stuck in the past. Instead, we choose to wear modern Scottish menswear with timeless, sartorial style.
