Dear Friends of Portland Razor Company,
Last year was a real struggle, saying nothing of 2021!
We would generally prefer to focus on our products and allow our work to speak for itself. But these are extraordinary times that demand we set aside business-as-usual and confront our broader reality.
Longtime fans will recall our numerous brushes with disaster since 2014: floods, cancer, stolen labor, burglaries, and all the usual challenges of being a small craft business competing with Amazon. And then, 2020 happened.
All of our lives were turned upside down by a global pandemic, and again by George Floyd's murder. Locally in Portland, we were hit especially hard by increased police brutality, daily protests, wildfires, and right-wing, racist violence. Our current environment changes so dramatically and so quickly, it’s been nearly impossible to plan for anything but uncertainty.
Our friends, family, and customers have rallied to support us through it all, and we are determined to keep Portland Razor Company alive and thriving. Balancing the desire to keep our little shaving company afloat with the hard economic realities of ongoing turmoil and a global pandemic has forced us to look at ourselves, our capabilities, and what we want to put into the world.
As hard as things have been for us, we are uniquely privileged to have such a robust support system. 2020 was rough, but it was even more challenging for those more vulnerable than ourselves. We have spent an ever-increasing amount of time doing work that uplifts our community in the form of leading children's after-school arts and athletics programs, providing child care, participating in political activism, and supporting mutual aid projects through donations or volunteering our time. We intend to continue that work for as long as is needed.
With all that in mind, we need to update you on how we move forward as Portland Razor Company from here!
Our 2021 Intentions
Stay true to our core values of craft, quality, inclusiveness, authenticity, and constant improvement.
Serve our customers better.
Continue to deliver quality products and education.
Make room in our lives for building community--for shaping the world in which we want to live and thrive.
Upcoming Changes
Limited Production Runs
We have been very fortunate that our handcrafted-in-Portland straight razors have been in such high demand, maintaining a backorder since 2014. In good times, lead times were as low as two weeks and as long as six months depending on demand and capacity.
We have worked tirelessly to fulfill existing orders but consistently overshot expected lead times due to supply chain issues, pandemic constraints, and diminished mental health. To keep things fair for our customers and manage our workload, we will be producing razors in limited runs as we are able rather than on a made-to-order basis. To be notified when these razors are made available, please sign up for our e-newsletter.
Brand Partnerships
One of our biggest challenges has been keeping products in stock. We have manufactured all of our products in-house since 2014, which allowed us to maintain very tight control over our process and the quality of our product. As demand for our products has grown, our ability to deliver in a reasonable timeframe at fair prices has diminished, causing some frustration for our team and clients alike. Rather than hire and train additional makers--a risky and expensive undertaking even in “the before times”--or wildly increase our pricing, we have decided to partner with other talented makers with their own craft brands. You will start to see new products on our site in the coming months. We will maintain transparency by prominently displaying where products we sell are made and by who.
Seeking Subletters
We closed our barbershop and manufacturing facility to the public in advance of our state's stay-at-home orders last March. We then moved all operations into our homes so that we could continue shipping orders while social distancing. We are fortunate that we had income sources besides the barbershop to continue to cover living expenses, but we continue to pay rent for space we no longer occupy. Since we don't have plans to return, we are seeking subletters. If you or someone you know is interested in renting all or part of our 1200 sq ft commercial & light manufacturing space near Downtown Portland, please email info@portlandrazorco.com.
We're in This Together
It feels like the world is rearranging every week or so, forcing us to relearn how to exist in it. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we adapt to these unprecedented times, and we wish you health and safety in the coming year.