From the Founder - Why We Started and an Exciting Future.

Hello and welcome to ArchieSoul Men, my name is Mark and I am the founder of the company.

ArchieSoul Men was created with the purpose of bringing the UK market some of the finest men's grooming products from around the world. There is no middleman, no complex chain link to slow you down, just a few clicks of your mouse will bring you the finest grooming products personally hand-picked by me.

I am strong believer in making every contact count, from the beginning of your journey with us, through to ordering from us, and continued support after you have tried us.  Afterall, we want you to recommend us and keep coming back time after time.

It was nearly twenty years ago, in the build-up to my wedding day that I decided that the standard male grooming products available in the supermarkets or high street chemists didn’t make me feel special enough.  I was tired of using mass market, functional products, that quite frankly were boring.  I knew that on my wedding day, and throughout our honeymoon I wanted to feel that I had made an effort in my morning routine.

That’s when I started looking around for a different type of product for my body, hair and face.  I came across two brands in particular, American Crew and Anthony.  Both American, and at the time very rare in the UK.  Yes, it was more expensive, but to me it was worth the cost, these products were clearly on a different level to anything that I had been using before.  I could do things that I wanted to do with my hair, and it actually stayed like that throughout the day. 

Our honeymoon was in Canada, and maybe it was because my eyes were open to it, but I was amazed by the bigger and better range of brands that was available.  I did spend an absolute fortune, and my new wife must have thought ‘what the hell have I married?’ (I am pleased to say that we are still together).

It was around 18 years ago that the shop in Shrewsbury town centre was identified, deals lined up with brands and suppliers, including two in New York and we were almost ready to go.  To my regret, a mixture of life getting in the way and fear meant that I never took the final step and the shop never opened.  It was the arrival of a world-wide pandemic and the first national lockdown that allowed me the space to remember what the dream was and get to grips with what is important in life.  By coincidence or design, at the same time I came across the amazing grooming products made by Walton Wood Farm in Canada.  I ordered some solid cologne and some shower gel from their ‘Canadian’ range and within two days of it arriving, I was hooked again.

This time, there was no time for fear, the world was already paralysed by fear so anything that held me back felt insignificant.  Obviously opening a brick-and-mortar shop in this climate wouldn’t be the brightest thing to do, and that is when www.archiesoul.com was born.

We brought in brands such as Walton Wood Farm, Ace High, and Duke Cannon from North America, we followed that up with American Heritage Brands, and from France, Monsieur Barbier.  These brands create the most amazing beard oils, balms, pomades, fibers, body wash, shave cream etc.   That was followed up with a quality range of razors from Barbarossa Brothers, recycled rubber writing journals from Ecowings and a collection of superb leather bags from Dotch Leather.

An ever-growing range, but there is something for everyone already.

The reaction from the public has been superb and very supportive.  I knew that people would love the products, the trick was and always will be, getting the products in front of people.  I am under no illusions that this game is hard, and we don’t have the financial clout of the massive ecommerce companies that sell around 80% of everything that you ever buy online.  We know our niche though; we know that it is more than just buying some soap for our customers.  It goes back to how I felt twenty years ago and wanting to feel special after using the products from us. 

That is the feeling that I want each and every ArchieSoul Men customer to have!

With your help we will continue to grow, we will bring in more brands, more products, and more offers. 

We are also working on a couple of barber shop partnerships, the first of which should be announced in the Autumn.  I also want a series of prominent ‘pop up’ shops across the UK, so that we can get out and meet our existing and new customers face to face.

It will be tough, but not as tough as what we have all faced over the past eighteen months, and it will be exciting.

So that’s me and that’s why I started ArchieSoul Men, it would be great to have you on board!

Please follow us on our social media and if you haven’t already, please sign up for our mailing list.  We have some great offers lined up between now and Christmas and that is where you will hear about them first, and some exclusive offers to our subscribers.

Facebook - @archiesoulmen

Instagram - @archiesoulgrooming

Thanks and Take Care

 Mark Davis

 Founder of ArchieSoul Men

mark@archiesoul.com