It's a good thing blades are available mail order

[pdieten]

So, over the last few weeks, I've been in and around various stores around home here in the outskirts of Milwaukee, and since my wife likes to hit up every aisle, I've always been able to see what's available for DE blades locally.

Let's just say that some stores provide better values than others.

11. Kmart - 10 Vietnamese-made store brand (Dorco) - $6.79 (!)
10. CVS - 10 Israeli-made store brand (Personna) - $6.99
9. Walgreens - 10 Israeli-made store brand (Personna) - $5.79
8. Kroger - 5 VDH - $3.99
T6. Target/Meijer - 5 VDH - $2.99
5. Walmart - 5 VDH - $2.88
4. Meijer - 10 Israeli-made store brand (Personna) - $3.59
3. Family Dollar - 5 Chinese made store brand (Dorco) - $1
2. Dollar Tree - 5 Chinese made store brand + a razor (?) - $1
1. Piggly Wiggly - 10 Israeli-made store brand (Personna) - $1.99

If I didn't already have so many blades around I might get a pack of blades the next time I'm at the Pig. They also have lemon lime shave foam cheap. Maybe I'll try it on a lark some day.

The wife buys the dollar store Dorcos to shave down her foot calluses. Having tried shaving my face with one, that's all they're good for as far as I'm concerned. Tuggy as all hell

Lessons learned?
- There's a reason Kmart is dying
- Drugstores are expensive
- Meijer is the only store that stocks more than one brand of blades
- VDH must be cutting some great deals with the big chains
- I'm going to keep getting Russian-made blades mail order.

 

[burg1198]

Pick up a dollar tree razor and blades. Check out this thread.
Looking for a Few Good Men..... The $1 Razor Challenge!
Looking for a Few Good Men..... The $1 Razor Challenge!

 

[John Rose]

I'm surprised you didn't see any Wilkinson Sword blades in your travels. They're all over the place (drug stores, Walmart) here in Atlantic Canada, for Cdn$5.00-$6.00 per five blade pack. Sadly, that's all we're likely to find on the shelves, except for various kinds (DE, SE, half-blades) of Personna blades at Sally Beauty Supply.

 

[NCoxSTL]

The choice is limited in the St. Louis area. About what you found in Milwaukee except no Piggly Wiggly, Meijer or Kroger. That's why I have my favorite and most loyal sellers on the bay. Russians boys. Always Russians. (With an occasional Feather thrown in for good measure)

 

[pdieten]

I'm surprised you didn't see any Wilkinson Sword blades in your travels. They're all over the place (drug stores, Walmart) here in Atlantic Canada, for Cdn$5.00-$6.00 per five blade pack. Sadly, that's all we're likely to find on the shelves, except for various kinds (DE, SE, half-blades) of Personna blades at Sally Beauty Supply.

German-made Wilkies used to be more of a thing around here, but apparently everyone switched to VDH. I'm guessing VDH's complete line of shave products and starter kits attract the big stores that think they have a shot at the hipster shaving market. I do get the VDH luxury soap, because I get a good lather from it and find it works well.

The funny thing is, Walgreens' online presence offers a 5-pack dispenser of the Wilkies for just US$1.29 and you can have it shipped to a store for free. Given that you can't take a step around here without bumping into a Walgreens, that's no inconvenience. A far better deal than what you usually find in the stores.

 

[dmshaver]

My local grocer has a good selection of aftershaves, but I mail order my blades.

 

[ajkel64]

The only DE blades that we sell in the supermarket where I work are Wilkinson Swords but they are $14.00 for a pack of ten blades. There is a smaller supermarket just up the road but I have not been in there to check what they have in their men's shaving section. I get my blades on line like most of us seem to do.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Here, it's store brand Israelis or Wilkinson Classic. I stuck with the store bought Wilkies for 20 years, and even at 5 blades for £2 or £3.95 for 10 (which they currently are, depending on which store you use) they're not bad value.

On average, I get 10-14 shaves from most blades. The last Wilkinson I used was the first I ever counted, and that went to 19. Back when I was using the store bought ones, I was maybe shaving two or three times a week, so going well over a month on a single blade seemed normal to me. So, a single plastic carrier of 10 blades, which would now cost me less that £4, would last me over a year. As an aside, I couldn't comfortably get more than a week from a cartridge.

Now that I can go online and get 100 blades delivered to my door for under £10, things have changed a bit. I've now got about 500 blades (enough for 5,000 to 7,000 shaves) in a biscuit tin in the bottom of the wardrobe. However, I still don't consider those local options to be either poor blades or poor value.

 

[musicman1951]

I have to admit I have no idea what's available locally. I've always ordered on line.

 

[BigJ]

Bottom line for me also is that online is the way to go! Sad but true!

 

[viking4976]

Nice advantage to being a truck driver-on occasion I can get through Chandler, AZ (Wet Shaving Products) or Pomona, CA (West Coast Shaving) and I can walk right into those places and buy anything i want. Last time i bought blades two years ago i walked right into West Coast Shaving and bought a bunch of Lord Platinum Class, 7 o'clock yellows, and Feathers, and Proraso green soap, and no shipping charges. It was pretty cool. When I can get through Chandler, AZ I'm gonna stop by WSP and get some Formula T shave soap. (As well as a few more Astra blades.)

 

[CigarSmoka]

DE blades are practically nonexistent here. The last time I purchased any at a store was when I paid $7.99 for 9 Brazil made Gillettes at Walgreen’s, and that was at a dollar off. They quit stocking them but no loss, I like my mail order PPI blades more at a fraction of the B&M store cost.

 

[bwc1976]

I tried one of my old CVS Israeli blades again recently, and it was a lot better than I remembered, now that I had 2 years of experience under my belt and a more aggressive razor to put it in than the Van Der Hagen I started out with. Wish I could say the same for the Van Der Hagen blades. And in any case, the pricing and variety are still infinitely better online, and Russians are among the best of all.

 

[Badgerstate36]

Around here, all you can really find a store brand Personna Reds and VDH. To the OP, do you have a Woodman's in your area? I grew up in the Janesville area and you can often find Wilkinson Swords at Woodmans and theyre usually priced fairly cheaply.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

Go Piggly!

I buy online, or from Maggard.

 

[Grundi]

Pick up a dollar tree razor and blades. Check out this thread.
Looking for a Few Good Men..... The $1 Razor Challenge!
Looking for a Few Good Men..... The $1 Razor Challenge!

+1. Amazing Challenge garnering more than 1,000 posts!! So worth taking the challenge!!

 

[pdieten]

Around here, all you can really find a store brand Personna Reds and VDH. To the OP, do you have a Woodman's in your area? I grew up in the Janesville area and you can often find Wilkinson Swords at Woodmans and theyre usually priced fairly cheaply.

Yeah. I wrote this awhile back and hadn't visited Woodmans recently, but since then I've picked up a couple of 99 cent packs of Wilkies there. It's good that they have them because I've been using those blades daily recently. I always get great shaves from them.

 

[NCJack]

Same in Charlotte NC. Dollar General has some, Israelis I think, and the drug and grocery stores might have a pack of somethings for $2-$3. OTOH, they all have 15-50 multiblades.

 

[Badgerstate36]

Yeah. I wrote this awhile back and hadn't visited Woodmans recently, but since then I've picked up a couple of 99 cent packs of Wilkies there. It's good that they have them because I've been using those blades daily recently. I always get great shaves from them.

Yeah, I love Woodman's. Every time I do a trip I remember what a great grocery store it is.