ETHOS Grooming Essentials A New Line

Marko 

I agree Carmine is a very good person and I like him a lot. We’ve had some great conversations in the past and he easy to work with but then something must have happened last year because that’s when this issue with communication started. We usually communicate through WhatsApp and I’d message him about new upcoming releases and he’d message me back saying yes I need to get an order in and I’d send him an order sheet and then I’d not hear back from him so I’d message him agin and eventually he’d respond again saying he needs to get an order in.  So that’s how it’s been going since then. In fact the last time I heard from him we had a good conversation and we talked about meeting each other for lunch in Niagra Falls and I said I’ll drive your order there as it’s only about 75 miles from me. So honestly i haven’t given up on him I just think he’s got a lot going on with his full time job and his kids as he’s mentioned a couple of times in our conversations.  Since this came up I’m going to reach out to him again and let’s see if I can get him back on track as I get messages from Canadian customers quite often about this topic as they don’t really like paying for the shipping from the US. 
I also want to be clear  I’m not  trying to talk badly about him as I really like him I just need a vendor to be a good steward for the brand which I’m sure you can understand.  I’ll report back on this as I know several people have messaged me about the  Dragonsbeard release and even more so on the upcoming two. Bay Rum releases and I want him to have them.  I know very well what’ it’s like to be overwhelmed and that may be what’s happening to him but I’ll really try my best to get  in touch with him. 

Best regards

Sorry Frank, I’m not suggesting you’re disparaging Carm. I know he’s got a lot on his plate. I just think Canada is a tough market because it’s so small and it’s expensive. Here in the forums we can get lost in our own little echo chamber. The market for artisan wet shaving products is not huge and Canada hasn’t got a huge population. 36 to 40 million people (depending on irregulars) do a Canadian vendor has to depend on US business and offer the free shipping to US as  as Canada because they have to to compete. US vendors don’t offer free shipping outside of US because they don’t have to. What? 360M people? So on that basis alone Canadian vendors are operating at a lower margin. And if you’re dealing with returns it’s even worse then there’s the FX on the dollar. That’s why there’s basically three significant vendors in Canada. Top of the Chain (#1 in my book), Italian Barber and Fendrihan. Neither of the latter two carry the range of artisans that TOTC does. There’s a few smaller vendors like StoneField which carried obscure ( not top tier imo) Canadian soap makers but he’s shutting down. He’s an airline pilot and there’s only so much time. There are a few others that sell only their own product like MacDuff’s (top tier imo) but other than that it’s a barren high cost wasteland 
There used to be more vendors but they’ve all shut down over the years. I don’t know, maybe most Canadian guys are Williams soap buyers. Or canned. I rarely raise the subject of wet shaving with guys. You get that look. Whatever. Far be it for me to inject a little joy into people’s miserable lives    So I reckon that Carmine is dealing with the same issues all Canadian vendors have to deal with 

 
I totally understand and I mentioned some of the things you brought up in a detailed message I sent him today. Left him my personal number so hopefully we will be in touch soon. I mentioned I'd still be willing to drive the order to Niagara Falls to save him some shipping costs as I go there now and then as there's a restaurant I like there.   

Thank you for your input.

Frank

What’s the restaurant ? In case I’m ever there. It’s gotta be good if you’d drive 150 mile round trip. With a little business on the side. Life is good. I mean that in a positive way!

Sorry Frank, I’m not suggesting you’re disparaging Carm. I know he’s got a lot on his plate. I just think Canada is a tough market because it’s so small and it’s expensive. Here in the forums we can get lost in our own little echo chamber. The market for artisan wet shaving products is not huge and Canada hasn’t got a huge population. 36 to 40 million people (depending on irregulars) do a Canadian vendor has to depend on US business and offer the free shipping to US as  as Canada because they have to to compete. US vendors don’t offer free shipping outside of US because they don’t have to. What? 360M people? So on that basis alone Canadian vendors are operating at a lower margin. And if you’re dealing with returns it’s even worse then there’s the FX on the dollar. That’s why there’s basically three significant vendors in Canada. Top of the Chain (#1 in my book), Italian Barber and Fendrihan. Neither of the latter two carry the range of artisans that TOTC does. There’s a few smaller vendors like StoneField which carried obscure ( not top tier imo) Canadian soap makers but he’s shutting down. He’s an airline pilot and there’s only so much time. There are a few others that sell only their own product like MacDuff’s (top tier imo) but other than that it’s a barren high cost wasteland 
There used to be more vendors but they’ve all shut down over the years. I don’t know, maybe most Canadian guys are Williams soap buyers. Or canned. I rarely raise the subject of wet shaving with guys. You get that look. Whatever. Far be it for me to inject a little joy into people’s miserable lives    So I reckon that Carmine is dealing with the same issues all Canadian vendors have to deal with 

 
I totally understand and I mentioned some of the things you brought up in a detailed message I sent him today. Left him my personal number so hopefully we will be in touch soon. I mentioned I'd still be willing to drive the order to Niagara Falls to save him some shipping costs as I go there now and then as there's a restaurant I like there.   

Thank you for your input.

Frank

What’s the restaurant ? In case I’m ever there. It’s gotta be good if you’d drive 150 mile round trip. With a little business on the side. Life is good.  I mean that in a positive way!

lol Marko 
It’s called the Western Door. It’s in the hallway when going to the Senaca Casino. It’s independently owned I believe. They have the 2nd best steak I’ve had in a restaurant next to Del Frisco’s in Boston. Basically all the food is very good in the restaurant. It’s not inexpensive but worth it. I discovered it when I went to the Casino a few years ago which I like to go to once in a while. In fact my son and I took a drive there about a month ago. Hit the casino for an hour or so and both he and I got lucky and won a decent amount of money then went to the restaurant. I hadn’t been there in a while since Covid so it was a good short trip. A Question, do you live near the Falls? I know Carmine is in Lewiston.

 
I totally understand and I mentioned some of the things you brought up in a detailed message I sent him today. Left him my personal number so hopefully we will be in touch soon. I mentioned I'd still be willing to drive the order to Niagara Falls to save him some shipping costs as I go there now and then as there's a restaurant I like there.   

Thank you for your input.

Frank

What’s the restaurant ? In case I’m ever there. It’s gotta be good if you’d drive 150 mile round trip. With a little business on the side. Life is good.  I mean that in a positive way!

lol Marko 
It’s called the Western Door. It’s in the hallway when going to the Senaca Casino. It’s independently owned I believe. They have the 2nd best steak I’ve had in a restaurant next to Del Frisco’s in Boston. Basically all the food is very good in the restaurant. It’s not inexpensive but worth it. I discovered it when I went to the Casino a few years ago which I like to go to once in a while. In fact my son and I took a drive there about a month ago. Hit the casino for an hour or so and both he and I got lucky and won a decent amount of money then went to the restaurant. I hadn’t been there in a while since Covid so it was a good short trip. A Question, do you live near the Falls? I know Carmine is in Lewiston.

Sounds like fun.  I live in Calgary on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It’s about 3,600 kms west of Niagara Falls. The map app says it’s about a 35 hour drive so I won’t be doing it any time soon!

What’s the restaurant ? In case I’m ever there. It’s gotta be good if you’d drive 150 mile round trip. With a little business on the side. Life is good.  I mean that in a positive way!

lol Marko 
It’s called the Western Door. It’s in the hallway when going to the Senaca Casino. It’s independently owned I believe. They have the 2nd best steak I’ve had in a restaurant next to Del Frisco’s in Boston. Basically all the food is very good in the restaurant. It’s not inexpensive but worth it. I discovered it when I went to the Casino a few years ago which I like to go to once in a while. In fact my son and I took a drive there about a month ago. Hit the casino for an hour or so and both he and I got lucky and won a decent amount of money then went to the restaurant. I hadn’t been there in a while since Covid so it was a good short trip. A Question, do you live near the Falls? I know Carmine is in Lewiston.

Sounds like fun.  I live in Calgary on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It’s about 3,600 kms west of Niagara Falls. The map app says it’s about a 35 hour drive so I won’t be doing it any time soon!

Oh wow that’s a long way from Niagara Falls but I’ll bet it’s beautiful country out there.

It is indeed 

lol Marko 
It’s called the Western Door. It’s in the hallway when going to the Senaca Casino. It’s independently owned I believe. They have the 2nd best steak I’ve had in a restaurant next to Del Frisco’s in Boston. Basically all the food is very good in the restaurant. It’s not inexpensive but worth it. I discovered it when I went to the Casino a few years ago which I like to go to once in a while. In fact my son and I took a drive there about a month ago. Hit the casino for an hour or so and both he and I got lucky and won a decent amount of money then went to the restaurant. I hadn’t been there in a while since Covid so it was a good short trip. A Question, do you live near the Falls? I know Carmine is in Lewiston.

Sounds like fun.  I live in Calgary on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It’s about 3,600 kms west of Niagara Falls. The map app says it’s about a 35 hour drive so I won’t be doing it any time soon!

Oh wow that’s a long way from Niagara Falls but I’ll bet it’s beautiful country out there.

It is indeed 

Go ahead and make that bet Frank.  You will win it!  Last spring, my wife and I took the Rocky Mountaineer from Calgary to Vancouver.  Despite the abundance of beautiful pictures posted here, nothing can match the beauty and majesty of being there in person.  The other exceptional thing we ran into was an endless stream of cool, friendly Canadians.

It is indeed 

Canadian Rockies even more beautiful than US

Sounds like fun.  I live in Calgary on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It’s about 3,600 kms west of Niagara Falls. The map app says it’s about a 35 hour drive so I won’t be doing it any time soon!

Oh wow that’s a long way from Niagara Falls but I’ll bet it’s beautiful country out there.

It is indeed 

Go ahead and make that bet Frank.  You will win it!  Last spring, my wife and I took the Rocky Mountaineer from Calgary to Vancouver.  Despite the abundance of beautiful pictures posted here, nothing can match the beauty and majesty of being there in person.  The other exceptional thing we ran into was an endless stream of cool, friendly Canadians.

Breathtakingly beautiful Marko I did some camping in the Rockies in Colorado, Idaho and Utah some years back and it was awesome. Never made it to Montana and Yellowstone as winter was setting in and the pases were closed. Great memories! An thanks for sharing. You and Nero live in a real life painting!

Oh wow that’s a long way from Niagara Falls but I’ll bet it’s beautiful country out there.

It is indeed 

Go ahead and make that bet Frank.  You will win it!  Last spring, my wife and I took the Rocky Mountaineer from Calgary to Vancouver.  Despite the abundance of beautiful pictures posted here, nothing can match the beauty and majesty of being there in person.  The other exceptional thing we ran into was an endless stream of cool, friendly Canadians.

Breathtakingly beautiful Marko I did some camping in the Rockies in Colorado, Idaho and Utah some years back and it was awesome. Never made it to Montana and Yellowstone as winter was setting in and the pases were closed. Great memories! And thanks for sharing. You and Nero live in a real life painting!

The world is a beautiful and amazing place filled with wonderful people. You only need to look and be open.

If you’ve ever played hockey against us, you’ll learn that under that friendly exterior is a bit of a nasty streak!

Go ahead and make that bet Frank.  You will win it!  Last spring, my wife and I took the Rocky Mountaineer from Calgary to Vancouver.  Despite the abundance of beautiful pictures posted here, nothing can match the beauty and majesty of being there in person.  The other exceptional thing we ran into was an endless stream of cool, friendly Canadians.

Breathtakingly beautiful Marko I did some camping in the Rockies in Colorado, Idaho and Utah some years back and it was awesome. Never made it to Montana and Yellowstone as winter was setting in and the pases were closed. Great memories! And thanks for sharing. You and Nero live in a real life painting!

The world is a beautiful and amazing place filled with wonderful people. You only need to look and be open.

If you’ve ever played hockey against us, you’ll learn that under that friendly exterior is a bit of a nasty streak!

HAHA! I can't skate to save my life!