Ciao, BI

Well...one of the big ones has said goodbye to the world of wetshaving.

When I first started wetshaving, one of the first purchases I made was a box from Giovanni Abrate at Barbieria Italiana. Giovanni had arguably the widest selection of wetshaving goods on the net, not to mention imported toiletries and custom soaps and creams. He was the North American Flagship vendor for Omega brushes--a great range of stuff there. He also introduced Boreal brushes to the US market, and was a great supplier for the Boar Brotherhood. He had blades other vendors had never HEARD of, and his line of cottage soaps and creams are considered by many to be benchmarks among smaller vendor products. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and recent health problems, it appears that Mr. Abrate has decided to suspend Barbiere Italiana indefinitely.

I'm sorry to hear it, but I can see that life happens and sometimes, important sacrifices must be made. I can say that, in the few interactions I had with Mr. Abrate, he was a true gentleman and an amazing source of information about shaving and shaving products. His service was old school in the best sense--personal, and engaged. It is unfortunate that the net-market doesn't really tolerate that kind of service; people are too impatient, and too distant, to engage at that level. A sad state of affairs.

The message board at BI is still running, and the catalogue of the store is still up so you can poke around and see what you're missing. The good news is that the product hole left by the loss of BI is quickly being filled by a new online vendor, Shoebox Shaveshop. Many of the products which had been BI exclusives are now available there--not surprising, as the owner was an avid customer of Mr. Abrate's, and a constant poster on the message board. So the loss is not total, though it is profound.

Thanks, Giovanni, and be well.