McAree Brothers

Rude staff, never shopping there again. Been in here a few times with my wife and although the do have a good selection of wool they staff range between being disinterested to being downright rude. On our first visit when my wife was asking some basic questions as she wanted to get into knitting she got grumpy answers in a condescending how could you not know type fashion and on another occasion when she went in 10 minutes before closing time and tried to get the attention of the staff, the staff just ignored her as they were clearly intent on getting finished and out the door as soon as possible and attending to customers was the last thing on their minds. We love to support local businesses, but from now she’d rather buy online.

This shop is so beautiful. It is set in a Georgian building in the New Town of Edinburgh and it has the most gorgeous yarns. The range of books and patterns was the best I have seen. The staff were very friendly and knowledgeable. I shall definitely go back here when I need more yarn.

RUDE STAFF — AVOID!
As an avid knitter I love the idea of having a knitting shop so near to where I live — so why don’t I shop here? Unfortunately it’s down to the staff. Although I’ve come across some staff at McAree who are polite, there are a couple of older ladies who work there who are just unpleasant. They literally never smile or make an effort to be friendly — if you’re lucky you get an ‘are you alright?’ barked at you when you’ve just stepped through the door, then that’s it. It’s like they don’t want you to bother them by shopping there. Friends and family who are into knitting say the same thing about this place — they don’t like the staff and would rather shop elsewhere. It’s a shame, and so frustrating to see no effort being made to provide decent customer service.
They’ve even talked about me behind my back while I was in shop, when I stopped by to exchange something that had been bought in the wrong size!
I prefer to buy my yarn online, or in John Lewis (even though I have to walk past McAree to get there) if I need it urgently.