The best independent shops in Edinburgh
Edinburgh's small (mostly independent) shops are the best place to buy souvenirs or gifts. You can pick up a ready-to-wear kilt, peruse heaving delicatessens and pungent cheesemongers for picnic supplies, or taste test unusual shortbread flavours (lemon and poppy seed, perhaps?) for family and friends back home.
Below we cover the best shopping in Edinburgh, while for further trip planning inspiration, see our guides to the city's best hotels, restaurants and cafes, pubs and bars, nightlife, things to do, things to do for free, plus how to spend a weekend in Edinburgh.
Old Town
Hawico
Enter Hawico to find stacks of cashmere sweaters and scarves in a rainbow of desirable colours. There are 49 shades to choose from, but if you cannot find the combination of colour, size and style you want at the shop, they will make it specially for you as part of their 'Create Your Own' special order service. The Hawick Cashmere Company (re-christened Hawico) have been in the business a long time, but have tempered the stuffy twinset and pearls image – occupying the territory between frump and fashion with elegance and ease.
Contact: hawico.com
Prices: ££
Corniche
Ask for designer labels in Edinburgh and you are likely to be pointed in the direction of either Harvey Nichols or Jane Davidson’s splendid shop in Thistle Street. But if your taste runs more to Vivienne Westwood Anglomania, rather than Diane von Furstenberg, you will want to check out this UK Designer Store of the Year. It has a discreet presence on Jeffrey Street where the Royal Mile turns into Canongate, and has labels for the guys as well, such as Comme des Garçons and Masnada Men. Scottish designers are also well represented.
Contact: corniche.org.uk
Prices: ££
Kilberry Bagpipes
Did you know that as well as Highland bagpipes, there are Scottish smallpipes? At this Old Town workshop you’ll find both, and all other things bagpipe, too. They ship worldwide and offer a 'Bagpipe Package Deal', which includes pipes, carry case, learning materials and maintenance kit – that's everything except the kilt and the red face. Or you can think of the neighbours, and take home a practice chanter learning kit and try the pipes without the bag instead. They also sell music, DVDs and books, as well as sporrans, buckles and belts. Think of it as a one-stop piping shop.
Contact: qualitybagpipes.com
Prices: ££
Walker Slater
Whether you’re looking for bespoke tailoring or off the peg, or if you’re trying for young fogey or embracing your inner Laird (or Lady), this glorious shop – all wood panelling, leather chairs and oriental rugs – on picturesque Victoria Street fits the brief in every way. As well as tweed jackets, skirts, trousers and suits, they sell everything you need to complete the picture: knitwear, shirts, belts, braces, hats and shoes – even watch-chains and hip flasks for that extra touch of verisimilitude. Arrive as Ena Sharples; emerge the Duchess of Devonshire.
Contact: walkerslater.com
Prices: £££
Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop
This is one of the oldest and last surviving independent bottlers in Scotland – you’ll not come across many others like this. Behind the unobtrustive shop front in the Canongate you will find bottles, casks, worn wood and the all-pervading smell of angels weeping whisky. They bottle the ‘pure product’ of small, independent distilleries and offer single malts straight from the cask, as well as their own artful blends (rums and cognac, too). You can buy smaller amounts in bottles carefully packaged for travel – the label handwritten with your name and the date of purchase.
Contact: wmcadenhead.com
Prices: ££
Ragamuffin
Ragamuffin started life a long time ago in a caravan on the Isle of Skye, selling handmade woolies and fisherman’s smocks. It has always been a little bit offbeat, but it has moved on and grown up too – opening this Canongate shop to offer their unique take on Glasto-meets-Scandi design. As well as their own label, they stock fashion from Oska and Flax and knitwear from Lorry Marshall, a design team from the Scottish Borders. If you are looking for tailored you should probably move on, but if unstructured fashion floats your New Age boat, this is the place for you.
Contact: ragamuffinstore.com
Prices: ££
Fabhatrix
Pop into this slightly mad shop in busy Grassmarket to try on a few hats. You can take your pick from every hat you have ever heard of and quite a few you haven’t (bicorn, anyone?), in any fabric and colour you can imagine. There are fanciful and practical hats, hats for weddings and the races, and hats to walk the dog in the rain. They aren’t cheap, but they are always unique. Can’t find the perfect one? Fabhatrix will design one just for you.
Contact: fabhatrix.com
Prices: ££
W. Armstrong & Son
Armstrong was selling vintage clothing long before vintage was a 'thing'. It opened in 1840; today, it’s still certainly the biggest vintage shop in Edinburgh, with a huge selection of almost anything you could ever want or need to wear. For women, there’s everything from bathing costumes to wedding dresses. Men can kit themselves out in full highland dress or as an Admiral of the Fleet, while couples can go the full Sonny and Cher. Have a rummage or just choose a decade; odds are you will find something that fits both bill and budget.
Contact: armstrongsvintage.co.uk
Prices: £
I J Mellis Cheesemonger
Look out for Stinking Bishop and Old Lochnagar at this pungently traditional cheesemongers. Iain Mellis bought his first shop on Victoria Street because it was damp and cold, perfect for selling cheese – you’ll understand when you see the shop. There are branches in Morningside and Stockbridge, too. There are cheeses from all over the world, in what would be a bewildering variety if the staff behind the counter were not so knowledgeable and helpful. They are generous with the samples too, so don’t be shy.
Contact: mellischeese.net
Prices: ££
Edinburgh Farmers' Market
More than 55 producers sell meat, fish, eggs, honey, seasonal fruit and vegetables, cheeses, breads, plants, and a whole range of specialties here. Pull up a bench and have some creamy porridge with whisky or a hot hog roast roll while you gaze up at the forbidding walls of the castle. The adjacent NCP Castle Terrace car park offers a discounted rate during market hours – validate your ticket at the market information stall. If you miss the Saturday market, there’s a Sunday farmers' market in Stockbridge and smaller Saturday markets in the Grassmarket and Leith.
Contact: edinburghfarmersmarket.co.uk
Prices: ££
Cranachan & Crowdie
You may be surprised to discover that there are 20 different kinds of oatcake in Scotland, never mind a shop that stocks them all. But if it’s Scottish and you can eat or drink it, you stand a good chance of finding it here – from haggis to smoked salmon and Hebridean sea salt to Irn-Bru. There are some appealing non-food items as well, such as Belltrees Forge candlesticks, or a great present for any child – a copy of The Gruffalo in Scots or Gaelic. You can also buy frozen ready meal, which come in handy if you’re self-catering.
Contact: cranachanandcrowdie.com
Prices: ££
Edinburgh Book Quarter
Edinburgh’s ‘Soho’ lies between the West Port and Bread Street, the bookshop equivalent of Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley and home to a clutch of characterful independent booksellers. Edinburgh Books is the biggest second-hand bookseller in the city. Main Point books is particularly good on philosophy, mountaineering and paperback fiction, while Armchair Books is a lightly alphabetised jumble sale of groaning floor-to-ceiling shelves. There is even a bookbinder – Owl and Lion – which sells journals and notebooks and runs regular beginners’ bookbinding workshops.
Prices: £
Mr Wood’s Fossils
Even if you think you have no interest in fossils, think again. And not just fossils, but minerals, meteorites, ammonites, trilobites and most exciting of all, dinosaur fossils. Surprise yourself and visit this Grassmarket shop full of unexpectedly fascinating and beautiful things. Embrace your inner dinosaur-loving child (and instantly convert any child you might have with you into a miniature palaeontologist), and leave with some amber (otherwise known as fossilised tree sap) jewellery.
Contact: mrwoodsfossils.co.uk
Prices: ££
New Town
21st Century Kilts
If you are a strict traditionalist when it comes to kilts, you might want to look away now. These are kilts as fashion items, both off the peg and bespoke. Ready-to-wear kilts come in Harris Tweed, leather and denim while bespoke kilts come in – well, pretty much any fabric you can imagine, even traditional tartan. Styling is bang up to date: you can have your kilt in a ‘hipster fit’ or with detachable pockets. All the accessories are there too; whoever thought a sporran would be a fashion item? Be sure to book an appointment in advance.
Contact: 21stcenturykilts.com
Prices: £££
Gamefish
Want to join the huntin’, shootin’, fishin’ set or just want to look the part? Try this home to all things tweedy, woolly and waxed; it’s the place to buy smart outdoor clothing, as well as all the supplies that are needed should you require to catch or dispatch fish or game. They even sell second-hand tackle (in case you have a problem with commitment). Best of all, you can buy a fiendishly clever Kelly Kettle – light a small fire of dried leaves or bits of grass, and you have almost instant boiling water. It’s heaven for overgrown boy and girl scouts.
Contact: gamefishltd.co.uk
Price: ££
Mary’s Living & Giving Shop for Save the Children
There are a lot of great charity shops in Edinburgh, but this – the first of Mary Portas’ chain of re-imagined charity shops for her television series Mary Queen of Shops – is one of the best. You can easily kit yourself out for a dinner party, holiday or new office job. The quality is consistently good and there are designer labels to be found (Stockbridge ladies do seem to have rather superior cast-offs). Miss the sign on the door and you will think you have wandered into a fashionable little boutique – until you see the prices, that is.
Contact: savethechildren.org.uk
Prices: £
Edinburgh Printmakers
This space is a working studio, gallery, non-profit organisation and shop. It's the first open-access printmaking studio in Britain, and has been going strong since 1967. Visitors can watch artists at work, see an exhibition, attend a lecture or buy original prints, books, jewellery and other splendid stuff in the shop. You can spend £2 on a matchbox by Laurie Hastings or £1,200 on a John Bellamy etching. They also participate in 'Own Art', an Arts Council scheme to make buying art more affordable through interest-free loans.
Contact: edinburghprintmakers.co.uk
Prices: £-£££
Covet
This Thistle Street boutique sells the kind of accessories that will bring an entire outfit together. There are handbags, gloves, scarves, bracelets and brooches – made of buttery leather, suede, silk and velvet. The shop features European labels you’ve heard of: (Cochinelle and Becksondergaard), as well as new designers you may not know and are unlikely to see anywhere else. And if you’re thinking shoes, you only have to pop a few doors along to Pam Jenkins, where you’ll find a pair of Jimmy Choos or Louboutins to consolidate your state of bliss.
Contact: thoushaltcovet.com
Prices: ££
Valvona & Crolla
Scotland’s oldest Italian delicatessen dates from when most Scots bought olive oil in small bottles with droppers from the chemist. It’s a wine merchant as well, with a good café/bar hidden at the back. But the deli remains essentially unchanged, with meats, cheeses, olives and all manner of other good things behind the counter and hanging from the ceiling, while old-fashioned grocer’s shelves are packed with cans, jars, bottles and packets of every description. Nowadays there are good delicatessens all over the city, but people still make the pilgrimage to Valvona & Crolla — it’s part of the city’s history.
Contact: valvonacrolla.co.uk
Price: ££
Unicorn Antiques
This lucky dip establishment is a treasure hunt for the dedicated trawler of bric-à-brac; it’s more old curiosity shop rather than antique’s shop, and is spread over several basement rooms in Dundas Street’s mini 'antiques row'. If you need to match a brass doorknob, replace a bone-handled knife, are looking for a coal scuttle, a china dog, a candlestick, or something to put in your ornamental whatnot, this is the place for you.
Contact: unicornantiques.co.uk
Prices: £
Mr Purves
Mr Purves' Lamp Emporium is the place Aladdin would go if he needed a new lamp, or even just a new wick. Where else could you buy a hurricane lamp for £7, never mind get it repaired? Even if you do not think you need a lamp, Mrs Purves is an Edinburgh legend, a fountain of local knowledge, and a dedicated wearer of tartan. Sadly Mr Purves has passed away, but the splendid shop goes on. It’s only open on Saturday afternoons, or at other times by appointment.
Address: 59 St. Stephen Street
Contact: 0131 556 4503
Prices: £
Southside
Toys Galore
Independent toy shops may be in danger of extinction in a world of superstores and electronic gadgetry, but in Edinburgh, you can find a traditional one rammed with all the toys you thought had gone forever. There are toys for indoors and outdoors, musical toys, educational toys, and toys for all ages, including jigsaw puzzles and board games for older children. There are toys that encourage children to create, build, run, think and imagine; toys to remind you and your children what fun is all about. Take all your pocket money.
Contact: 0131 447 1006; Facebook page
Prices: £
The Nomads Tent
You’re unlikely to stumble across this eastern emporium of decorative delights accidentally, so it is worth taking the short trip off the beaten track to Newington to visit this self-styled 'warehouse of tribal art'. Inside, you’ll find things such as a Iznik vase, a wooden purse from Sumatra and an Anatolian saddle bag. They sell everything from inexpensive and unusual gift items to temptingly portable kilims and breathtaking rugs; there are also themed exhibitions and even a small corner of interesting books.
Contact: nomadstent.co.uk
Prices: ££
Pekoe Tea
Owners Jon and Lynn regularly travel to source more than 100 varieties of tea, building up close relationships with their suppliers who are all monitored by the ethical tea partnership. They are happy to explain the difference between a first and second flush Darjeeling and are stockists of the first tea grown in Scotland Kinnettles Gold. You can also try their expert brews at the tea bar – sit in or take away – with a macaron or piece of cake. They sell coffee too, and carefully chosen wares for brewing and accessories. Beware – you may never be able to use a tea bag again.
Contact: pekoetea.co.uk
Prices: ££
Totty Rocks
Totty Rocks was set up by two lecturers from Edinburgh College of Art who now dress the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon; but please don’t let that put you off – there’s nothing stuffy about their clothes. Their designs are always wearable, with a clever modern twist on often nostalgic looks and a winningly modern way with tartan and tweed. They bring a whiff of fun to serious fashion. The Totty Rocks mac is set to become a design classic – and not just for the fabulous linings.
Contact: tottyrocks.bigcartel.com
Prices: £££
Leith
Georgian Antiques
There’s an extraordinary antique furniture shop down a side street off Leith Links that you’ll want to seek out if fine furniture makes your heart beat faster. Expect five creaking floors of fascination in a former whisky bond warehouse, which contains everything from oak chests to Orkney chairs, tea caddies to taxidermy, and cabinets to candelabras. Staff are knowledgeable, not intimidating, and you don’t have to worry about getting a Victorian wardrobe in your carry on – they can arrange delivery anywhere in the world. But don’t go in if you’ve a train to catch; cross the threshold and you’ll be there for hours.
Contact: georgianantiques.net
Prices: £££
Harburn Hobbies
This is the sort of shop that makes model enthusiasts come over all dewy-eyed. Harburn Hobbies have been in business since the 1930s and is crammed to the gunnels; they sell trains in every gauge as well as every kind of accessory (they are exclusive suppliers of Scottish buildings to go with your Scottish trains). Not into trains? Find Scalextric, Thomas the Tank Engine, doll’s houses, furniture and fittings, model airplanes, battleships and every kind of Corgi car, truck, and bus. You can even buy a dinky model of an Edinburgh bus to take home with you.
Contact: harburnhobbies.co.uk
Prices: £
Elvis Shakespeare
Elvis Shakespeare isn’t the name of an impressionist with identity issues, it’s an impeccably logical name for a shop selling vinyl records and books (and CDs, VHS tapes, DVDs, magazine, fanzines, comics and graphic novels, too). Owner David Griffin has curated (there is no other word for his imaginative and meticulous selection and organisation) an amazing collection of the rare, the obscure, the well-loved, and the lost but not forgotten. Where else are you going to find The Clash and The Smurfs mixing it up in the same place?
Contact: elvisshakespeare.com
Prices: £
