I went in there today to scope out a christmas gift for my grandfather, he likes their products. And, to my surprise the sales staff was very knowledgeable about DE's and straights. They carried a respectable collections of Merkur's, including the satin finish futur I want. I've always had this image in my head of AOS being a commercial shaving hut carrying only mach3 cartridge sets. I take all that back, I was thoroughly impressed today.
New found respect for The Art of Shaving shop
- Thread starter TGilly
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Isn't The Art of Shaving owned by Proctor and Gamble/Gillette? I always thought it was just another way for Gillette to get a piece of the pie or maybe the whole pie.
You could be right though as I have never gone to one because of the reasoning above.
You could be right though as I have never gone to one because of the reasoning above.
Haters gonna hate.
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Yeah, I just looked it up. Procter and Gamble bought up The Art of Shaving in 2009, so it says on their site. Now knowing that, I'm surprised they carry Merkur's. It'd make more since for them financially to sell Gillette safety razors, but whatever not my company.
I went up to one here and was pleasantly suprised myself. Nothing I wanted, but of more importance was the sales staff asking if I needed help and just being genreally professional. I liked the store layout, it was clean, snappy presentation, and as you said, knowledgable to a minimum. Good place.
Good to hear they have knowledgeable people in there. That is definitely a good thing for people that like the AoS products
Hopefully they have upped their game with regard to sales staff.
Yeah, I have mixed feelings about AoS stores. On the one hand, a very friendly (perhaps too friendly) sales guy gave me a packet of free samples last time I was there, but on the other hand, I can never shake the feeling that the sales staff know next to nothing about DE shaving. And all those fusion and Mach iii blades freak me out. But since I don't have a real shaving store anywhere close, I'll take what I can get.
Procter & Gamble don't make safety razors. They are happy to push cartridge razors on the whole world. I am surprised they stayed in the DE razor market but that may change as DE users diminish.
The St Petersburg plant produces some great blades though.
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That's actually incorrect. Gillette India does still make a few DE razors (an one piece all plastic gizmo, and a variation of the Tech) for sale in India (who has the largest remaining population of DE users).
They are however making a huge push to convert the remaining DE users to the cartridge: the single bladed Gillette Guard cartridge razor is a huge seller in India; it's primary goal is to kill the DE razor.
These Indian razors Gillette is using to throttle the vast de market there may also be serious threats to de shaving worldwide. The St. Petersburg plant needs to sell a lot of blades to justify keeping its doors open, for example, so I'm happy that lots of folks around the world still use its blades. I'm fine because I indulged my personal paranoia with a sufficient purchase of blades a while ago. It was like signing up for Arthur Murray dance lessons but paying for them all at once.
I had a positive experience when visiting my local AoS store. I got into an interesting conversation with an employee there who told me that P&G bought AoS because they saw the wet shaving market growing. They have since dropped the line of products that targeting women. The employee told me that was a strategic decision, not one based on poor sales. It seems to me that, while they may be focused on brushes and product, any store selling wet shaving product can only increase awareness of and interest in DE shaving. For years, I used my grandfather's Old Type OC and bought Colgate and Williams mug soap from Walgreen's because it was all I could find. I then gave up. I returned when I first discovered an AoS store several years ago. That led me to internet searches for product and supplies and now here I am with a collection of 25 or so vintage Gillettes, several new razors (Tradere, Weber, Merkur, Cadet, EJ), many soaps, creams, oils, aftershaves and several hundred Gillette-produced razor blades. Ironically, I don't have lot of AoS stuff, but I do have two of their oils and ASBs in my rotation.
Maybe P&G's marketing department is correct and there are more like me?
Maybe P&G's marketing department is correct and there are more like me?
The AOS store I visited in Las Vegas did not impress me. They were very interested in selling me a $100 cartridge razor but when asked about a DE it was like, oh we carry those too, but they couldn't tell me anything about them. Then they tried to push a brush on me, and when I told them I already had enough brushes, they insisted I buy a brush stand because the brush absolutely had to dry upside down to keep bacteria out of it. I just had to laugh at the lack of knowledge they had. Oh yeah, and that info was coming from a manager.
i had the same experience in Charlotte, NC and atlanta... When I go there I have fun
They know NOTHING and just wanted to sell me 5 bladers and brushes which i don't need theirs. I have their entire Sandalwood line and love it. Lemon cologne is great also. Their Ocean kelp cream is to die for! They just need to hire or at least train folks that can carry on a conversation with guys that know their crap! LOL
AOS staff at the Scottsdale location are very nice and helpful. I hate going into stores that size, though, since the staff is typically breathing down my neck but at AOS they're pretty easy going. AOS sandalwood is one of my favorite scents but the price (and P&G connection) is a turn off.
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I have been to that location also. They were not that bad if I remember. I think it may be hit and miss??
AOS in Miami is pretty bad. Clueless as well.
The staff at the AOS store in my town was very friendly, but how seriously can you really take a sales associate who looks like he hasn't shaved in 2 weeks? I just had to laugh. Nice store though.
The store near me is ok, way too expensive and they offer no discount for military/ law enforcement. It doesn't seem like a sustainable business model considering they don't offer many things that I can't find online for 20% less or more. I find it useful in going to the store and putting my hands on the razor I like, then buying online for much less.
That's where I got started. They were very helpful and certainly knew more than I did at the time.
