It’s an initiative that began at the top of the previous month, when the entire male staff of the Broad Street landmark Garmany of Red Bank made a solemn pledge to spurn the razor — and this Saturday, December 5, “No Shave November” officially comes to a close, when the high-end clothier hosts a Shave-Off Saturday Holiday Event in honor of its late founder, Laureano “Larry” Garmany.
The 2015 holiday season marks the first since the July passing of the Cuban immigrant whose name adorns the 40,000 square foot former Steinbach department store — and who famously brought high-end retail (and lured no less a name than Tiffany & Co.) to a small town not so long ago derided as “Dead Bank.” Between the hours of noon and 6 pm, the men of Garmany take it all off (with the help of a “gentleman’s pop-up shaving salon” established for the occasion by The Art of Shaving), in a promotion supporting the work of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Garmany customers are encouraged to make a donation to MSKCC (whose Monmouth County location on Red Hill Road in Middletown is currently under construction) via a giving page set up for the No Shave November effort. A portion of all store sales was dedicated to the ongoing cancer research of the MSK Cancer Center last month, an endeavor about which the Garmany Team’s message states, “We aim to raise awareness this month by embracing our hair, which many cancer patients lose, and letting it grow wild and free. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) is our beneficiary. Larry had a positive experience with their clinical team at MSK and did their best in patient care during such a difficult time.”
The in-store shaving salon will be open for the duration of Saturday’s six-hour event, with luxury grooming product samples spotlighted, and special trunk shows with Magnanni Shoes and Baz Persaud. The Wine Bar of Atlantic Highlands will furnish complimentary light fare and refreshments.
