Cremo, a popular men’s grooming brand, celebrated the launch of its first-ever razor with an event at Otis & Finn’s 44th Street location in Long Island City.
Consumers and influencers joined the event to promote the new product June 8, while enjoying custom cocktails and artwork by NYC artist StrayCat. Philly “Barberking” Garcia — a barber for star athletes like Brooks Koepka, LaMelo Ball and Jalen Ramsey — also joined the event, giving complimentary shaves.
Otis & Finn’s owner, Shawn Dixon, said that it was an incredible experience to host such a well-known brand’s launch event.
“I thought it was great for our community and great for our neighborhood to have such a well-known brand and well-known barber choose our shop,” Dixon said. “I think it speaks to the community we’ve been able to build here in Queens. Our clients are super loving and loyal and invested in the community.”
After living in Queens for 17 years, Dixon and his partner decided to open their first Otis & Finn location on Pearson Street in Long Island City. They now have three locations — two in Long Island City and the other in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
“We always loved LIC and saw the neighborhood growing but the businesses on the ground weren’t really, at that time, around to meet the demand,” Dixon said. “We wanted to build a space that allowed people to come, meet their neighbors, a place to talk about what’s going on in the neighborhood — our shops are very community-based.”
Dixon mentioned that his shops often partner with local businesses and organizations to give back to the community. Most recently, Otis & Finn committed to giving 10 percent of their profits to the Ali Forney Center during pride weekend.
According to Dixon, partnering with Cremo gave Long Island City the opportunity to get recognition for the growth the neighbors and local businesses have been working so hard to achieve.
“We had a lot of people come in and it brought a lot of people to the neighborhood who would have otherwise never seen it,” Dixon said. “I think everyone was really impressed with [LIC] and the spaces we have.”
