Vielong closing down

[Rudy Vey]

Just got an email from Bullgoose announcing that Vielong, an old Spanish brush maker is closing down.
This would be now the second old name in shavebrush making, after Thaeter who is also closing down.
In my own business I also see a drastic slow down. And talking to other makers, they see the same effect.
Not really sure what triggers this. I think a lot of this has to do with the cheap products coming now easily from China.
Hard to compete if a complete brush from China is cheaper than what I can buy a simple knot for.
Also, money gets more and more tight with all the other products we need in our daily life getting much more expensive.
I think a shavebrush purchase is taking then a back seat. Sorry to see these old names going. Vielong made a great product.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

It’s really a shame. Vie-Long used to make really good brushes at very fair prices and the 16510 red and swirly white was a frequent SotD cover model in its time. It has been very hard to find stock of their more premium brushes for some years now and I wasn’t completely surprised to hear they have closed. They either weren’t making many brushes or retailers weren’t stocking them for some reason.

There’s clearly an issue in the industry, and seemingly with retail altogether. So many brands and stores are disappearing. Restaurants seem to be really struggling too, as I keep reading. I suppose it’s a toxic combination of the covid pandemic, followed by sharply rising interest rates, food and housing costs when customers and businesses could least afford it. And retail wasn’t smooth-sailing before covid either. I also believe we never really came out of the 2008 economic crash and it is still continuing in various ways. It just brings it all home when you see such long-lived brands disappearing when they must have survived through so many previous tough times.

I will cherish the lovely Vie-Long brushes that I am fortunate to have. I’m sad there will be no more.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

I am sorry to read this Rudy - I suspect this is more to do with the economy in general. I doubt that a producer of high quality brushes such as yourself, would be competing with Chinese companies offering cheap, mass produced brushes; surely they are intended for different markets and different types of buyers. Speaking personally, I simply have enough quality brushes and need no more; perhaps there is simply saturation of a small and finite customer base most of whom currently have less disposable income.

 

[emwolf]

Truly a shame. I do have a couple Yaqi brushes in my den, but they are not in regular rotation. My regulars have names on them like Paladin, Rudy Vey, Shavemac, and Simspon. I do have 2 Vie Long horsehair brushes, but the horses get little use compared to the badgers.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

I am sorry to read this Rudy - I suspect this is more to do with the economy in general. I doubt that a producer of high quality brushes such as yourself, would be competing with Chinese companies offering cheap, mass produced brushes; surely they are intended for different markets and different types of buyers. Speaking personally, I simply have enough quality brushes and need no more; perhaps there is simply saturation of a small and finite customer base most of whom currently have less disposable income.

Perhaps we are also guilty of overlooking the great traditional brands in favour of the next latest shiny thing. If one of us drops $400+ on an artisan brush we could instead have bought half a dozen really beautiful Vie-Longs, and it’s not that brands like Vie-Long didn’t give us great quality and value.

Impossible to support every manufacturer, of course, but if we neglect those with larger production facilities and staff it is particularly hard for them to keep going. Higher overheads, slimmer margins, more mouths to feed and loans to service. Easier for part-time, one-man artisan outfits to flex their production when the demand ebbs and flows.

 

[Darth Scandalous]

I saw that email too and it saddened me a bit. I have a Vie-Long horse that I'm beginning to love as it breaks in and had always thought of buying more.

I did order one of the barber handle synths from Bullgoose last night, though. I really like barber handles and they seem to be getting rarer too.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

I saw that email too and it saddened me a bit. I have a Vie-Long horse that I'm beginning to love as it breaks in and had always thought of buying more.

I did order one of the barber handle synths from Bullgoose last night, though. I really like barber handles and they seem to be getting rarer too.

The black-handled horse hair brush in my second picture above is fantastic. Super soft tips and the handle is very nice quality. I believe this particular model with the white hair is 50/50 mane/tail hair. If you can find one of these I definitely recommend it, and no break-in is needed. It was only about $25, I think. The model / handle style is called ‘comte’.

 

[BigJ]

Sad!!

 

[SharpieB]

That’s sad. I really like their horse hair brushes. And they have been around for many decades.

Unfortunately, it is hard to compete with the likes of Yaqi and other Chinese brushmakers. $20-ish for a fairly decent quality badger or synthetic is hard to beat.

All of my brushes (except for one Yaqi I never use) are from USA, Canada, UK or Europe. I love what I own,,but very few were even close to $20. Ok, maybe the VieLong horse and badgers from Omega and Zenith.

 

[Jens]

Thank you for the update. I am tempted to try and get another Thater while I still can.
What is the relation between Shavemac and Thater ..? I've heard it's basically the same brushes, or the same people operating under two different names... Anyone here in the know ..?

 

[Flanders]

I also believe we never really came out of the 2008 economic crash and it is still continuing in various ways.

It's not the right place for this discussion, but I frequently think about the post war downturn that preceded the roaring twenties that gave way to crash of '29. I find it a cautionary tale in long term planning that even a decade of ups is really only the tsunami building strength before crashing ashore. I have been thinking about this since 2003, but luckily didn't have much to loose in '08. Many people believe the tech bust of the late nineties was never really resolved in the years leading up to '08, much wealth was destroyed(or transferred).

 

[Mr. Shavington]

Thank you for the update. I am tempted to try and get another Thater while I still can.
What is the relation between Shavemac and Thater ..? I've heard it's basically the same brushes, or the same people operating under two different names... Anyone here in the know ..?

Shavemac was the handle producer for Thäter. Apart from that, no connection as far as I’m aware.

 

[Rivers23]

That is really sad news. I got a brown horse brush last year, it was cheap as well, and it's the softest most comfortable brush that I have. But yeah, hard to compete with 10 euro synths on Aliexpress. I think that generally those brushes perform quite well and it's really no longer justified to spend 40 euros on a badger which will not really give you a 4 times better result. I also got an Aliexpress synth and I really can't complain about its performance. The only reason I don't really use it as much is because I don't want Chinese plastics touching my face too much, but many people don't have such objections.

I just hope that Zenith and Omega will survive.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

It's not the right place for this discussion, but I frequently think about the post war downturn that preceded the roaring twenties that gave way to crash of '29. I find it a cautionary tale in long term planning that even a decade of ups is really only the tsunami building strength before crashing ashore. I have been thinking about this since 2003, but luckily didn't have much to loose in '08. Many people believe the tech bust of the late nineties was never really resolved in the years leading up to '08, much wealth was destroyed(or transferred).

Well, think about what has been driving economic growth for the past decades. There’s nothing. Only increasing consumption driven by omnipresent advertising and technology that enables you to shop while you’re sitting on the couch, watching TV (as well as delivering more adverts).

Think about the most valuable companies in the world - Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft (and some oil companies). What do those companies do? They are advertising agencies (Google and Facebook), producers of technology used to shop at home (Apple and Microsoft), and a big virtual shop (Amazon). They don’t produce anything of use to humanity, and they don’t make anything in the world more efficient or solve any problem.

And where does the money come from and go to, in this scenario where nothing of value is being produced but you have to keep buying things? It’s just banks manufacturing pretend money by lending money they don’t have, or creating derivatives to lend even more money in the future that they won’t have, and account for it now.

All our economic growth was a bubble. It’s sort of hilarious. But Wile-e-coyote doesn’t fall into the canyon as long as he still thinks he is running on the road. We must do the same.

 

[RSC]

Really too bad. I was looking at their website and considering a Vielong horse yesterday evening.

 

[A.E. Simpson 1919]

Capitalism, the Chinese and spiralling production costs.

It's a very difficult market for European brush makers, even more so for British based manufacturers post Brexit.

The vast majority of shaving brush buyers are not aficionados, caring little for history or what might be involved in the processes needed to produce the finest shaving tools. Cost, particularly now, in this global economic uncertainty, is the driver for many.

Support those companies you like, of which there are still many.

 

[malocchio]

Just got an email from Bullgoose announcing that Vielong, an old Spanish brush maker is closing down.
This would be now the second old name in shavebrush making, after Thaeter who is also closing down.
In my own business I also see a drastic slow down. And talking to other makers, they see the same effect.
Not really sure what triggers this. I think a lot of this has to do with the cheap products coming now easily from China.
Hard to compete if a complete brush from China is cheaper than what I can buy a simple knot for.
Also, money gets more and more tight with all the other products we need in our daily life getting much more expensive.
I think a shavebrush purchase is taking then a back seat. Sorry to see these old names going. Vielong made a great product.

A real tragedy .... I think you are correct, cheap Chinese goods flooding the market . Just like Ross Perot always said , " you can't compete with near slave wages unless your employees work for the same amount " .....

 

[Dtownvino]

And yet Rudy made this beauty today which I’ll be glad to receive!

 

[BradWorld]

View attachment 1720770
And yet Rudy made this beauty today which I’ll be glad to receive!

Beautiful!!!

 

[Barbarian80]

I think people are just spending less. I have a pile of brushes and don't need more. I would love to buy more but those funds need to be redirected to food that costs so much more these days.