Is wet shaving in decline or growing?

[hdhaskell]

OK, help me figure this out. Target quit carrying Proraso, and now I'm reading that Wal-Mart is dropping VDH (or at least the VDH starter kit). And B&BW seems to be dropping Proraso too -- and C&E is obviously bankrupt and contracting.

So what gives? Does anyone understand the business end of this thing we love? Is it that people are slowing down buying more razors and brushes, and mostly just concentrating on consumables? Or are people generally losing interest after an initial period of fascination?

 

[trewornan]

IMHO there are a number of factors at play here:

1) Although our numbers are increasing we are still a niche market and do not represent a significant portion of the population, certainly not by the standards of major corporate marketing - they aren't interested and don't care about us.

2) Selling one puck of VDH soap and a couple of $ worth of blades every few months is of no interest to a major supermarket chain. Compared to a pack of gillette cartridges and a can of shave gel every couple of weeks it's peanuts.

3) Frankly, the rate at which new wet shavers are being recruited is probably less than the rate at which old wet shavers are dying.

4) We are too diffuse in the population to support a brick and mortar business unless it's in a major first worlld population centre like London, LA, NY, etc. Internet businesses can flourish only because they effectively aggregate business from . . . well in effect the whole world.

 

[Austin]

IMHO there are a number of factors at play here:

1) Although our numbers are increasing we are still a niche market and do not represent a significant portion of the population, certainly not by the standards of major corporate marketing - they aren't interested and don't care about us.

2) Selling one puck of VDH soap and a couple of $ worth of blades every few months is of no interest to a major supermarket chain. Compared to a pack of gillette cartridges and a can of shave gel every couple of weeks it's peanuts.

3) Frankly, the rate at which new wet shavers are being recruited is probably less than the rate at which old wet shavers are dying.

4) We are too diffuse in the population to support a brick and mortar business unless it's in a major first worlld population centre like London, LA, NY, etc. Internet businesses can flourish only because they effectively aggregate business from . . . well in effect the whole world.

Very well stated.

 

[Russtopher]

I don't see wet shaving gear coming and going from brick and mortar stores as a sign of decline or growth of wet shaving popularity, since so much of what's there is dependent on what's mass marketed and what's popular.

Considering the money stores and companies are making on canned goo and cartridges, I'm not too surprised that I don't find much wet shaving stuff.

All my serious shaving buys are done over the Internet. I don't mind, because I can always comparison shop for the best prices.

 

[HeWhoKnows]

I don't think it's growing, unfortunately...
I believe that future belongs to electric shavers that will eventually reach better effectiveness than it's today.

Life gets ever faster...and people will seek ways to save time on everything possible....

 

[Pioneer]

I feel that I might agree with everyone here, but my question is this: If wet shaving is indeed *declining,* {read: not growing as fast as it is fading away, argument by population}, then why on earth are the prices for used razors going through the roof?? That's my only trouble with this line of reasoning.

 

[buyandhold2018]

IMHO there are a number of factors at play here:

1) Although our numbers are increasing we are still a niche market and do not represent a significant portion of the population, certainly not by the standards of major corporate marketing - they aren't interested and don't care about us.

2) Selling one puck of VDH soap and a couple of $ worth of blades every few months is of no interest to a major supermarket chain. Compared to a pack of gillette cartridges and a can of shave gel every couple of weeks it's peanuts.

3) Frankly, the rate at which new wet shavers are being recruited is probably less than the rate at which old wet shavers are dying.

4) We are too diffuse in the population to support a brick and mortar business unless it's in a major first worlld population centre like London, LA, NY, etc. Internet businesses can flourish only because they effectively aggregate business from . . . well in effect the whole world.

You made some great points

 

[Mycon]

OK, help me figure this out. Target quit carrying Proraso, and now I'm reading that Wal-Mart is dropping VDH (or at least the VDH starter kit). And B&BW seems to be dropping Proraso too -- and C&E is obviously bankrupt and contracting.

So what gives? Does anyone understand the business end of this thing we love? Is it that people are slowing down buying more razors and brushes, and mostly just concentrating on consumables? Or are people generally losing interest after an initial period of fascination?

I wonder if that's a regional thing. The store I always get it from cannot keep any on the shelves. The second it's restocked they are almost sold out.
This may have to do with my bragging to the staff about it which may have helped them talk it up.

 

[bluepunk18]

I wonder if that's a regional thing. The store I always get it from cannot keep any on the shelves. The second it's restocked they are almost sold out.
This may have to do with my bragging to the staff about it which may have helped them talk it up.

Interesting point! It seems that, at least in the GTA *Greater Toronto Area* every Shoppers Drug store keeps it stocked, and even offer both the green tub and the white tub. Perhaps the large percentage of Italian families are helping this? Even the local dollar/discount store has it, although that's not a chain, its locally owned. Sadly, I have yet to see it anywhere in New Hampshire...

As far as growing or shrinking, its sort of a grass-roots movement. One person starts, tells all of their friends, maybe a few start and continue in that fashion. I hold faith that there are enough people fed up with 10-bladed razors that cost an arm and a leg to replace after every shave and that there are a growing number of people who prefer the vintage, well-made tools to the new shiny plastic stuff to keep this thing going. I feel the ability of local soap producers to get their products online and thus offered to the world is a great help in our fight against canned goo.

 

[Dpflaum]

I feel that I might agree with everyone here, but my question is this: If wet shaving is indeed *declining,* {read: not growing as fast as it is fading away, argument by population}, then why on earth are the prices for used razors going through the roof?? That's my only trouble with this line of reasoning.

Because rather than using one or two or even five razors, people are collecting them by the dozens or even hundreds. And not just people that use them, people that are "collectors" too. Couple that with the fact that there is a limited supply with relatively low turnover and you can see why the price skyrockets.

 

[wdwrx]

In my area, and this is no real example as we are probably 10 years behind the rest of the world, I think I've seen an increase in the number/variety of wet-shaving products carried on the shelves. 5 years ago the ONLY shave cream available locally was Nivea (or maybe Florena, now supplanted by Nivea) and the only soap was Williams. Now Shoppers Drugs carries a huge range (relatively speaking) of different products. With that said, even Wilkinson Sword DE blades are really, really hard to find. And they are the ONLY offering. Schick injector blades are still available, though. 20 years ago i found a real Badger brush, the only one I'd ever seen, now cheap, crappy boar brushes are available at almost ever drug store. I have no idea if the local Body Shop has always carried the products they do, I've NEVER been in one until recently... wonder what prompted that?.....
....... all I've done is confuse myself...
It seems that there are more products available locally in general, but I'd be hard pressed to say if it's more a function of my perceptions or the actual market offerings.

 

[raccoonandbrush]

Although electric razors and cartridge razors still make up the majority of shaving supplies, straight razors will always be used because they guarantee the closest shave. These companies can try all they want to duplicate a straight shave with some new gizmo, but the only way they can achieve such a thing is to invent some sort of laser that burns the hair off your face. Since I don't see them selling lasers anytime soon, straight razors will still be in demand. I actually think that in a few years straight razor manufacturing and usage will double. We have all these resources (Badger & Blade, Straight Razor Place ...) available to us that makes it a lot easier to learn straight razor shaving.

 

[wdwrx]

Sorry for the double post but...
The thought occurs to me that since I've been unhappy with the mainstream shaving products since I started shaving 25 years ago, and it took the development of the internet to show me that there was actually an alternative, with the growth in internet use, it stands to reason that there should actually be growth in this sector. I mean, I'm just an average guy, like 50% of us, and eventually my dissatisfaction led me to whimsically type "shaving+how to" into the google window, it stands to reason that more and more guys will do the same thing. Leading them... here to B&B!
I google everything, now. 10 years ago, this wasn't possible. 10 years ago, I had no idea that there was so much i didn't know, and I didn't even know that I didn't know enough to not know I didn't know it!

 

[danparker77]

I don't know another person in the town I live in that wet shaves (pretty small pop. 11000) but our wal-mart can't hardly keep VDH select on the shelves, and the other day the bath and body down the road I went into had one tube of the Bigelow (luckily it was the big one) and the lady said there are a few guys that come in every other moth or so and buy out their entire stock. So I guess I am on the fence. I cant decide if it is growing, declining, or the few of us are preparing for the shavepacolype! as far as the razors on da bay go, collectors, never plan on using them just sit them on the shelf most of which probably don't even know we (B&B, wet shavers) exist.

 

[rafikz]

Well, there is a growing community of wetshavers, but I think that overall it's not growing

 

[RedDenver]

Sorry for the double post but...
The thought occurs to me that since I've been unhappy with the mainstream shaving products since I started shaving 25 years ago, and it took the development of the internet to show me that there was actually an alternative, with the growth in internet use, it stands to reason that there should actually be growth in this sector. I mean, I'm just an average guy, like 50% of us, and eventually my dissatisfaction led me to whimsically type "shaving+how to" into the google window, it stands to reason that more and more guys will do the same thing. Leading them... here to B&B!
I google everything, now. 10 years ago, this wasn't possible. 10 years ago, I had no idea that there was so much i didn't know, and I didn't even know that I didn't know enough to not know I didn't know it!

I think this will also be increased by the generation just learning how to shave. Why ask your dad when the internet is always at your fingertips?

 

[Slivovitz]

Lots of speculation here, but it's all anecdotes and what people think sounds right.

Actual sales figures for products associated with wet shaving might tell us someting, particularly if they're broken down by country.

With online communities like this one to spread the word, I wouldn't be surprised if wetshaving techniques do become more popular. I just don't count on it.

 

[DFrancis]

I think we need to hear from some of the web venders to see how they feel business is going. I feel that while there is a decline in what we see in brick and mortar stores, web stores can serve more people for less money.

 

[Stubblefield]

I google everything, now. 10 years ago, this wasn't possible. 10 years ago, I had no idea that there was so much i didn't know, and I didn't even know that I didn't know enough to not know I didn't know it!

Given that in 10 years this will be the norm for pretty much everyone, I predict that wetshaving and DE razors, being somewhat of an Internet phenomena, will only grow.

 

[mparker762]

So what gives?

The wetshaving market - taken as a whole - is pretty obviously contracting. The old guys are dying off and the increase in new guys here and on the other forums isn't enough to replace them. I'd guess the two numbers are off by two orders of magnitude. It remains to be seen whether the influx of new wetshavers will restore the market to anywhere near the size it was even five years ago, but it is quite likely that the luxury end of the market will do well. The market may be shrinking but the influx of new blood is also changing the character of the market as well. The guys that are dying off right now were the guys using their old superspeeds, russian gillettes, williams soap, and tattered old boar brush. However things shake out, there should still enough of a market for some of our favorite products to survive. One need only look at the straight razor market to see that. There, there are essentially no "old guys" left, only the new guys making up the market, yet it is doing surprisingly well, with new brands opening up at both the low and high end of the market. Old manufacturers that left the market decades ago are re-entering it and experiencing success.