How long until Gillette go back to DE/safety razors?

[Terry Tibbs]

Was thinking the other day, with the popularity of DE shaving growing all the time, how long before Gillette try and go for a luxury end or niche end of the market and start making old style razors again.
They still make the blades and after seeing what their old vintage razors sell for, do you think they will ever try and go for the safety razor again?
I think if they were to run a campaign playing on the good old days and nostalgia then a lot ofmenwould convert.
What do you think?

 

[BigWill]

Too much money to be made in cartridge refills (at $4 per). I can't see Gillette going back. Way too much margin on Fusion cartridge refills.

 

[ricardo9505]

P&G, Proctor & Gamble, own Gillette. Huge corporation. Make of many products on your supermarket shelves.
A niche sub division of gillete, dedicated company, would be best. But that seems too small for a company that has grown too big for their own good. Practicality beats niche markets

 

[smalltank]

Well...it's a tough thing to bring back..my dad used to use DE in the army..his eye and hand coordination isnt as good anymore..mach3 blades allow him to use pressure when he wants and won't really get cut..imo

 

[Neognosis]

I think there is a hell of a niche and some money to be made by marketing DE blades in much cooler packaging.

Sharks, Timor, Tigers have cool packages. The rest are pretty lame. I would buy packs of blades with pinup girls, retro Hawaiian prints, tattoo graphics, ANYTHING could be cooler than the lame packaging we have today. Heck, even zorro or something...

 

[misterelie]

I've said before, I firmly believe there will always be a small group of dedicated people around to manufacture this stuff. They probably won't be in it to make a big profit, but it will cost more than it does right now, simply because they have to meet their costs, and their costs will be higher than a company life Gillette, who made these things in the millions. They will probably also have higher costs because their quality control with the manufacture and parts will be quite high. Again, a labor of love.

Straight razors are experiencing this right now.

Certain cars have parts being continually made to this day as another example. Company in South Bend is making new parts for almost all post war Studebakers. And google DeLorean, and you'll see the same thing going on there.

 

[GreekGuy]

They will never go back.

Back in the day, the DE blades were just as expensive as carts are today. With foreign blade manufacturers and the internet, they couldn't compete if they wanted to. Theres no money in it for them anymore and I don't ever see that changing

 

[dpmtherrien]

I don't believe that they will ever go back. There's not enough money to be made doing things the old way.

 

[alohakid]

P&G, Proctor & Gamble, own Gillette ; they also own The Art of Shaving .

 

[Uncle Brian]

If there was enough money maybe but I'm not sure the quality would meet our expectations. Up to folks like Tradere, Goodfella and those folks who restore vintage razors to produce a quality product.

 

[Dalejr]

50,000 of us vs millions using carts= no chance...

 

[simpleguy]

I don't believe they could make a product like they use too without charging big $$ could you imagine how much they would have to charge if they made razors out of brass and plated them in gold like they use to??

 

[rivieraranch]

They're already charging $100.00 for a gussied up Fusion vibrating razor with Art Of Shaving on it. They could reissue some of their double edged models but it would be pricey.

 

[spectrrr]

I think the more specific question is whether we will see a Gillette branded razor being produced, and I think the resounding answer is NO! At central issue to everything is "brand identity" and what that brand means to people.

Alohakid pointed out that P&G already branded into the niche "high end shaving" market with Art of Shaving, quite successfully. But there's a reason they didn't do it with Gillette - Gillette is for the common man, the every day man. Any marketing push on the part of Gillette to bring back DE shaving would compromise and damage the very profitable "Gillette" brand as it is currently, and they would lose far more money than they stood to gain. HENCE we have Art of Shaving, marketed and branded to a completely different consumer, P&G gets their fingers in the "high end" DE shaving pie, for those consumers who want to do better (still a very small group, even if it is growing), and no damage done to the "everyday" Gillette brand.

Gillette continues to produce their DE blades with zero marketing and fanfare because it is something they can make a tiny buck on without any damage to their brand. I don't think they would ever try to actually market the DE blades, it would conflict with their much more profitable cartridge division. BUT for the small group of consumers already free of cartridges and using a DE everyday, it doesn't hurt Gillette to offer a DE blade for them to buy.

 

[Rufust445]

The AoS store walking distance from here has Merkur Razors going for upwards of $50.00. Maybe when Gillette can figure out how to sell a 5-pack of 7 O'clock blades for $10.00 in places like Walgreens, Rite Aid, or Wal-Mart...

Edit:

Wait, they tried that already. Last I saw a few years ago, Rite-Aid was featuring a 10-pack of Gillette "Super Silver" blades, from PPI, for $10.49. They were roundly panned and slammed on sites like here and elsewhere. Rite Aid figured out that the customers had figured out that their own brand of Personnas were a much better buy at $6.39 for a 15-pack, and performed better. Haven't seen the Gillettes made in Russia at Rite Aid for at least two years.

 

[jsj_297]

Hey were only 50,000 strong just on this site...I'm sure there's plenty more out there. But until we reach a level that they just can't ignore anymore, they will never go back. We're on the right path, unfortunately, there's a long long road ahead. But this stuff is catching on like a wildfire. So who knows, maybe in the next 10yrs let's see where we're at.

 

[Vickers]

I doubt they will, but it's an interesting thing to consider.

I mean, how much would you pay for a brand-new Toggle? Aristocrat? Long comb New?

 

[Face&Head]

The genius of King Gillette was in selling blades not razors. Razors were never an important profit center and many were sold as loss-leaders. Fifty years ago stainless blades cost $0.15 and today you can buy them for $0.10. On an inflation adjusted bases they should be well over $1.00. The largest remaining DE market is India where Gillette has introduced a razor that uses $0.11 carts...it has been their most successful (in units sold) product introduction in decades. They are far & away the most profitable business segment at P&G because they develop & sell proprietary shaving systems, they've been so successful (70% of the worldwide shaving market) because more than 40 years ago they quite correctly realized that DE safety razors were a threat to their business model not an opportunity. It's worth noting that while they own AOS if you want to buy a blade there, you'll get a Merkur.

 

[Topgumby]

How long until Gillette go back to DE/safety razors?

 

[Kevan]

They will never go back to DE. Ever.

Close to 40 years of advertising claims about multiple blades and cartridges providing an easier, superior shave. Proprietary cartridge refills proving the bulk of their income. The only way they'll return is if they make a DE razor that only accepts a blade they make. But that won't happen.

This isn't a larger movement. It's a drop in the proverbial bucket. They are not worried, nor do they care.