Why we deliberately keep our range small

When I started The Gentleman’s Shave, I could have made things pretty easy for myself in one respect:

Include as many well-known brands as possible.

Then the shop would quickly look big.

Lots of products.

Lots of categories.

Lots of choice.

It sounds logical at first.

But I quickly realized:

More choice doesn’t automatically make a shop better.

I never wanted to simply fill shelves.

My interest in traditional wet shaving isn’t because I want to see as many cans as possible lined up next to each other.

I’m interested in brands with character.

Products where you can tell that someone has put thought into them.

A distinctive scent.

An unusual soap base.

A manufacturer with their own distinctive touch.

Or simply a product that makes me think:

This really brings something new to the range.

That’s exactly why I didn’t want to build The Gentleman’s Shave like just another general retailer from the very beginning.

Small brands are often exciting for exactly this reason.

Many of the most interesting products don’t come from huge cosmetics corporations.

But from smaller manufacturers where you can tell quite clearly who is behind the brand.

With Westman, Tiago is very present.

With many American artisan brands, the founders themselves are deeply involved in the wet shaving scene.

And with brands like HAGS, you can tell from the scents and artwork that no one here is trying to simply be as neutral as possible.

I find that exciting.

Because a product doesn’t have to appeal to everyone.

It can also be polarizing.

The main thing is that it has a reason for existing.

HAGS is a good example of this.

HAGS does exactly what I like about modern artisan brands.

Unusual scent ideas.

Striking artwork.

Products people talk about.

You don’t have to like every variety.

And you shouldn’t have to.

But the brand sparks curiosity.

And that is far more interesting to me than the tenth shaving soap that is somehow called “fresh” and is forgotten again after three minutes.

My mistake at the beginning: Buying too much based on my own taste.

And that is exactly where I had to learn something myself.

At the beginning, I sometimes looked too closely at:

What do I like?

What appeals to me?

Which scent suits me?

That’s not completely wrong, of course.

I don’t want to sell products that I can’t stand behind.

But my taste isn’t automatically my customers’ taste.

Today, I ask differently:

Does the brand really bring something new?

Is there demand for it?

Does it fit our existing range?

And above all:

Do we really need it—or do I just find it exciting right now?

And sometimes I would love to carry a brand—but I’m not allowed to.

Especially with American artisan brands, there is another point.

There are incredibly many strong manufacturers and varieties there that I would order immediately for myself.

But just because I can buy a product for myself doesn’t mean I’m allowed to simply sell it in Germany.

Cosmetics are subject to clear legal requirements in the EU. If a manufacturer is not set up accordingly, I cannot simply import the product and put it in the shop.

That is sometimes quite frustrating.

Because there are brands that immediately make me think:

They would fit us perfectly.

And then it’s not the product that holds us back.

But rather the requirements for the European market.

That’s exactly why I want to involve you more in the future.

I can spend hours researching.

Reading manufacturer websites.

Going through forums.

Building lists.

But in the end, there is a much simpler question:

What do you actually want?

Which brand are you missing?

Which variety would you like to see?

Which products are difficult for you to get in Germany?

And where do you perhaps even say:

You’ve had enough of that.

I won’t automatically fulfill every request.

Quality, purchasing, availability, legal requirements, and of course profitability must all work.

But your feedback is more valuable to me than any theoretical range list.

Why we consciously remain curated

The Gentleman’s Shave is not going to become the shop with the most products.

That is not my goal.

I would rather people one day be able to say:

They may not have everything—but what they do have has been consciously selected.

That is harder.

And probably slower too.

But that is exactly how I want to build the shop.

Not bigger at any cost.

But better with every new product.