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St Andrews' Souvenir Shop Showdown

Poppiena Horsington

In this small but bustling town, there are bound to be plenty of shops hoping to capitalise on the beauty and allure of our delightful St Andrews. But the question must be asked - and even better answered - which one of these stores does it best?


I hope that this evaluation can aid your gift shopping for those distant relatives, or whoever you wish to brag about your attendance at St Andrews.


To begin this showdown, I will first outline the criteria that make a good souvenir shop:


  1. Variety This style of store has to offer a variety of products to truly cater to its wide customer base. You can’t buy everyone the same present after all!

  2. Quality The concept of a souvenir shop has today become easily synonymous with cheap crap. Ensuring that people’s impressions of St Andrews aren’t tarnished by low-quality goods is key to a sound souvenir institution. We have a reputation to uphold after all!

  3. Whimsy Walking into a store and feeling at ease is integral to a happy and pleasant shopping experience. Plus making the wallet open just slightly wider is better for the local economy in many ways.

  4. St Andrews specificity Your gift needs to be unique to St Andrews, something you could not find anywhere else. I still have regrets about buying a blue fedora as my souvenir of choice in Venice.


The notion of defining a souvenir shop can also raise a bit of trouble. Do we count any place with Scottish commodities as a souvenir shop? Does Waterstones then count? Methinks not. And so, to better narrow down the competition, I consulted Google Maps to understand what they consider fits into this category.


Bonkers Gift Shop


This store is self-advertised as “quirky, fun, beautiful cards and gifts” and it lives up to this tagline very well! It excels in terms of whimsy due to its packed shelves and wide variety of products.


This Christmas, I purchased a pack of beautiful velvet hair clips and a build-your-own lobster for two different friends get yourself to a store that can do both!


Bonkers caters to a plethora of styles and passions with high-quality goods, which I really appreciate! Thus it meets three of our four criteria.


However, in terms of St Andrews specificity, I fear it is lacking slightly. Overall, this is a nice store to buy someone a personal and charming present that isn’t necessarily showing off your St Andrews pride.


Credit: Bonkers Website
Credit: Bonkers Website

Great Scot


Aside from its witty name, it has a good variety of products that range from jewellery to socks. I am dubious of any souvenir store jewellery so in this regard I fear that the quality of souvenirs could vary depending on your product of choice.


That being said, this store has a decent balance of Scottish and St Andrews specific merchandise, leaning more towards general Scotland related wares I am a big fan of their postcards though!


Unfortunately, I have an immense bias towards this shop due to one product: ‘Bonnie Scotland’ shirtless men coasters. This would be the perfect present, showing off all the hotties Scotland has to offer. Truly these coasters have quality, variety and whimsy. If only we could get some St Andrews students to pose to meet all the criteria!


Nutcracker Christmas Shop


There is no denying that this store lacks variety in terms of products but it cannot really be faulted for that. Its charm is hyper-specific to Christmas, which is nice ramping up to the holiday season but otherwise feels somewhat out of place.


The quality of bauble is decent, one cannot really complain.


As a chain, this store is inherently lacking that St Andrews flair but maybe their impressive ornaments will help you overlook that! Not much to say really, sorry to this man.


Credit: Threads
Credit: Threads

University of St Andrews Shop


This store is built to meet all the above criteria and it does so easily! The quality of the product is fairly high, the hoodies and jumpers are clearly comfortable as demonstrated by how many people are seen frequently wearing them around town.


However, I have heard reports from the streets that their phone wallets do not stand the test of time. Regarding variety, their offer ranges from stationary to clothing with a multitude of colours. To no one’s surprise, the variety of design is pretty restricted to the University of St Andrews logo, which is to be expected.


This store for sure scores the best out of St Andrews specificity, I wonder why!


There could be improvements in the whimsy department, but their high ranking in the other criteria could compensate for this, depending on how seriously you take this category.


Credit: Uni of St Andrews Shop Instagram
Credit: Uni of St Andrews Shop Instagram

And there you have it, this is my non-comprehensive review of some of the St Andrews souvenir shops!


Ultimately, I think each store serves its own purpose towards curating the ambience of our little town and providing a unique present-giving experience.

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