Men Essentials 40% Discount on EVERYTHING

Awe man, that sucks.  I was just there this past summer while visiting for a month - it was a little sanctuary on the Danforth.  I guess it makes sense, some of the staff were complete tools, but that's too bad.

I think they're planning to continue with the online store but they're going to revamp it.  I have bought things from them online over the years but their website needed work - its not the best set up.  That said, their service was always excellent, prices competitive and they were the first Canadian vendor to stock Chatillon Lux and that in itself wins my loyalty.  

I thnk its tough to staff a brick and mortar with knowledgable people at (probably) minimum wage.  We've got one in Calgary, Kent of Inglewood and they don't stock artisanal stuff nor is their staff all that knowledgeable apart from the manager.  They have a great line of Swedish broad axes though!  Hard to shave with however.

Well if you can't shave with a Swedish broad ax, you just aren't trying hard enough lol!!

I agree, I guess it would be hard to staff a place like that.  The causal shoppers are one thing, but the nuts like us who know more than most...  


Either way, again, I'm sorry they are going.  Even though I don't live in Toronto anymore, it always makes me a little sad when a brick and mortar shaving store hits the dust.  Of course, how any place can stay open with rents and real estate being so expensive is beyond me.  I got the most expensive haircut of my life on the Danforth this past summer (where this store is located).  When I asked if I was being robbed because I wasn't a local, I got a lesson in the cost of living in Toronto.

Its true, I got some blank looks when I inquired about specific products. They'd never heard of Barrister and Mann, Chatillon Lux or even Wolfman Razors which are made only a few hundred kilometres north of here. Hmm, maybe I am the weird one

Seth is a good guy, I stopped in to ME when they first opened and even though I am "the competition", he was very welcoming and we had a really nice chat.

Sad to see his shop go. The B&M environment is Toronto is VERY tough, real estate prices and rents have skyrocketed, as has the minimum wage. The amount of walk-in sales you need to do a day, just to reach break-even is really tough.

Seth is a good guy, I stopped in to ME when they first opened and even though I am "the competition", he was very welcoming and we had a really nice chat.

Sad to see his shop go. The B&M environment is Toronto is VERY tough, real estate prices and rents have skyrocketed, as has the minimum wage. The amount of walk-in sales you need to do a day, just to reach break-even is really tough.

I don't know how any specialty shop can make it in the Toronto area or in any major city for that matter. The online space is the perfect male shopping experience - search, find, click, buy - free shipping delivered to your door. The perfect hunter gatherer experience.

As I said above, I always had good experiences whenever I bought anything from ME, service was excellent, prices competitive, its just that in the last year or two he hasn't stocked the products I'm looking for. In cases where the product is widely available like B&M which is stocked at the 5 online vendors in Canada that I frequent, I would tend to buy that from the vendor that I most deal with and all things being equal I do try to spread it around. I wish ME luck in rebuilding their online shop.

Hey HoosierShave  thats too bad

I was really hoping to pick up a B&M Lavanille set

I made an arrangement with Seth to send ME 10-12 soaps per batch as a way to give Canadian wet shavers access to Bufflehead - as limited as it might have been.

I wasn’t aware of Shawn’s issue, but I can’t say I’m surprised. The last shipment of Bufflehead I sent them happened during Seth’s departure. They sold it all, but never actually paid me for it (despite repeated attempts to collect).

I’m not entirely sure why Seth left ME, but his replacement(s) more or less spurned the artisan community as a whole.

I made an arrangement with Seth to send ME 10-12 soaps per batch as a way to give Canadian wet shavers access to Bufflehead - as limited as it might have been.

I wasn’t aware of Shawn’s issue, but I can’t say I’m surprised. The last shipment of Bufflehead I sent them happened during Seth’s departure. They sold it all, but never actually paid me for it (despite repeated attempts to collect).

I’m not entirely sure why Seth left ME, but his replacement(s) more or less spurned the artisan community as a whole.

That is very unfortunate to read. I am sorry to hear you didn't get your payment for the goods.

I made an arrangement with Seth to send ME 10-12 soaps per batch as a way to give Canadian wet shavers access to Bufflehead - as limited as it might have been.

I wasn’t aware of Shawn’s issue, but I can’t say I’m surprised. The last shipment of Bufflehead I sent them happened during Seth’s departure. They sold it all, but never actually paid me for it (despite repeated attempts to collect).

I’m not entirely sure why Seth left ME, but his replacement(s) more or less spurned the artisan community as a whole.

No good deed goes unpunished I guess. Your comment that I bolded above became obvious. I didn't know Seth or that he had left but I had a strong sense that they'd had a personnel change and the new guy either didn't know the state of the artisan wet shaving community or didn't care. But something they needed to know is that very few wet shavers are going to buy multiple TOBS soaps or creams. Not paying your suppliers is pretty low.

It got weird there for a while.

My favorite was the mass supplier e-mails that just had everyone CC’d. After a handful, I replied to all and pointed that out (sarcastically, I’ll admit). It rustled some jimmies, but a few people let me know they got a good chuckle out of it.

Even after everything, I never wished them any ill will. I’d love to see more B&Ms for sure.

It got weird there for a while.

My favorite was the mass supplier e-mails that just had everyone CC’d. After a handful, I replied to all and pointed that out (sarcastically, I’ll admit). It rustled some jimmies, but a few people let me know they got a good chuckle out of it.

Even after everything, I never wished them any ill will. I’d love to see more B&Ms for sure.

Oh for sure, life is too short to waste energy on negativity over other people's choices. You just take it and learn - any further orders require pre-payment. If this happened to other artisans and they all reacted in a similar business like fashion that might explain why there came to be very few artisan products represented on their site. Not paying suppliers is a sign of incompetence or cash flow problems or both but its never good. Reply to all the bane of the E world.

I got nowhere, trying to get in...