The Art of Shaving celebrates new Beverly Hills flagship
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The Art of Shaving celebrated the opening of its Beverly Hills flagship barber spa on Thursday night, the newest -- and at 2,900 square feet of retail space the largest -- of its men’s grooming emporiums to date.
It stocks men’s grooming tools, from the old school -- silvertip badger-hair shaving brushes, safety razors and straight razors -- to contemporary items such as Gillette Fusion razors, pre-shave oils, shaving creams and post-shave balms (Gillette’s parent company, Proctor & Gamble, bought The Art of Shaving brand in 2009). The boutique also boasts an expansive space in the back outfitted with eight vintage barber chairs where menfolk can go for a range of services, including a beard/mustache trim ($15), classic straight-razor shave ($45), haircut ($60) and a manicure/pedicure ($80).
When we ducked in to check out the new digs, brand representatives told us that moving forward, stores (the number of which is growing rapidly, and is expected to hit 63 by the end of 2011) would resemble the look and feel of the Beverly Hills space. That’s a good thing because the decor -- which includes walls covered with vintage-looking razor ads, shaving-related cartoons and, flanking the front entryway, a wall-hanging comprised of hundreds of razor blades -- manages to toe the exceedingly fine line between manly and trying-too-hard-masculinity.
It’s worth noting that The Art of Shaving’s growing presence in the market (it joins already existing local locations including Westfield Century City, Westfield Topanga, the Americana at Brand and South Coast Plaza) is just the latest example of a rapidly expanding manscape landscape.
In November 2010 we watched with interest as new management relaunched the Shave of Beverly Hills (just around the corner and down the street at 230 South Beverly Drive). And just a few weeks ago, another temple of all things tonsorial -- Baxter Finley Barber & Shop, which was barely a year and a half old and had already doubled the size of its La Cienega flagship -- added more barbers to its staff and even added a vintage children’s barber chair to allow for the prospect of utterly adorable side-by-side father-and-son haircuts.
The Art of Shaving, 9520 Brighton Way, Beverly Hills, open Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Baxter Finley Barber & Shop, 515 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, Monday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m, Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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-- Adam Tschorn