The Shave Club was born as one of the most cherished dreams of Sami Azrak, a visionary very convinced of the power of good service. As a client, Sami unsuccessfully searched for a first-class aesthetic services space, without losing direct contact with the barber.
Madrid’s barbershops were becoming impersonal, very expensive chains with a tone somewhat distant from the needs of the client. The closeness and complicity with the barber was being lost, as well as the personalized attention with the highest quality.
Finding an oasis of services in a city as dynamic and always on the move as Madrid was an imperative need in the market. That is why SHAVE Barbers & Spa was created, a space of elegance, closeness, warmth and 5-star service.
Within the initial vision, SHAVE Barbers & Spa standardizes quality without detracting from proximity and creates a vision of superior services in all its premises. The roadmap takes a barbershop to different parts of the city, with the intention of rescuing the concept of the neighborhood barbershop.
Just like in the barbershops of the 40’s and 50’s, SHAVE Barbers & Spa is a friendly, empathetic space that you always come back to. More than a place to cut your hair, it produces a whole sensory experience of maximum care of male aesthetics: The Shave Experience.
Four years later, time has proved them right and today SHAVE Barbers & Spa is experiencing dizzying growth. We have spoken with its founder to learn the secret behind a company that puts the customer as a priority and service as a flag.
4 years, 8 locations and a promising future
When we were considering interviewing Sami Azrak, we had planned to do a traditional interview. That is, a journalist, a notebook and an interviewee answering questions in a bar with a couple of coffees on the table.
However, Sami invited us to sit in the barber’s chair and witness first-hand the service that makes SHAVE Barbers & Spa different. So we did.
Tape recorder on, razor whirring at the ready, and an experience that honestly went beyond our expectations. In this space of absolute relaxation, Sami told us about his company, his vision and what the future holds for the brand.
Sami What is the secret behind the success of The Shave Club?
“There are no secrets, The Shave Club is much more than a chain of barbershops. It is a very personal space where the client feels like the center of attention and knows from the first moment that everything in the barbershop is created for their satisfaction.
We have designed everything in each location to give the customer a high quality service with closeness and a constant search for excellence. From the chairs to the products we use, they have been chosen with a single objective: to give the customer much more than what they ask for.
To do this, we have a team of top-of-the-line barbers and male aesthetic professionals with the utmost experience and dedication.”
Could you say that you provide a unique service in the city?
“There are very good barbershops in Madrid with trained barbers and good service. What makes us different is that we have sought to combine a top quality service with closeness and warmth.
We have endeavored to rescue a concept that was being lost in barbershops, complicity. For our parents, the barber was a therapist, a friend and a confidant who was 100% dedicated to satisfying the client’s needs.
Beauty salon chains have somewhat lost the magic of the barber connection. That precious moment when you sit for a while in the chair to forget about the world and let yourself be pampered.
In addition, male aesthetics needed a specialized space with excellent quality services and super personalized attention. That’s why we created The Shave Club.”
But this concept of the neighborhood barbershop is not new. Why has it worked so well at SHAVE Barbers & Spa?
“ The concept of YOUR barbershop has been lost. Our vision is to get where the customer is.
For this reason, we have considered opening a store in each area of the city to provide that level of closeness that is impossible to obtain in a gigantic chain.
The client always has his favorite barber, the one who knows him and knows exactly what he wants. This is one of the reasons for the success of SHAVE Barbers & Spa, we have managed to combine excellence with the warmth of personal attention.
Each place has its own identity that is born from the clients, the barbers and the neighborhood. It is a kind of particular atmosphere that is enclosed in each place to give a differential value to first-class attention and exceptional service.
Although we live in the same city, each neighborhood has its own essence and in each location we try to maintain that value above all else”.
In addition to the Madrid premises, what is the next step for SHAVE Barbers & Spa?
“The expansion.
Madrid has been a city that has welcomed us with open arms and has given us success that we would never have imagined. That is why we have made the decision to grow towards other Spanish cities taking our concept to other latitudes.
Barcelona and Malaga are within our sights and very soon we will expand our vision towards these cities.
But SHAVE Barbers & Spa plans to grow beyond the peninsula, we have internationalization within our short-term plans. There are very specific projects to open soon in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The United Arab Emirates is the future of world service. The best restaurants, hotels, spas and barbershops in the world are concentrated in its cities.
We want to export The Shave Experience to men of other nationalities and cultures. The future is for us a blank canvas with many possibilities for growth”.