Target & Proraso

[ada8356]

Alrighty, here is the link to the contact page for Target. Anyone is welcome to copy and paste my email I sent, but you may want to change the first sentence. It doesn't sound right.


http://www.target.com/gp/help/display-contact-us-form.html/602-9693032-0125424?displayLink=tsm

Any people outside the US are excused from this homework.

The rest of you get cracking!

HeHe... you left off this one:

 

[Queen of Blades]

HeHe... you left off this one:

I was going for the disappointed mother image. Not the overlord image.

 

[htownmmm]

The rest of you get cracking!

YES, MAAM!!!!!!!


Marty

 

[Queen of Blades]

Thank you Marty!

Did you see my custom title? I'm still keeping Queen of Blades, though. My full title now is; Witch Hazel, Queen of Blades.

 

[Queen of Blades]

Can't find it, can't buy it, they won't sell it.

 

[AACJ]

Can't find it, can't buy it, they won't sell it.

That brings up a good point JoAnna, why not email Proraso too? If their product doesn't sell and they know why, due to our emails, they might be able to put pressure on Target to move the location. After all, it might be Proraso pulling their product if it doesn't sell if it's too costly to produce.

 

[Quagmire]

I just sent off a modified version of joanna's email to target. If this works we should then consider a mass email about adding more wet shaving products.

 

[jduffy]

Such as inexpensive Alum Blocks!

 

[Queen of Blades]

That brings up a good point JoAnna, why not email Proraso too? If their product doesn't sell and they know why, due to our emails, they might be able to put pressure on Target to move the location. After all, it might be Proraso pulling their product if it doesn't sell if it's too costly to produce.

Good idea, Art.

 

[catatonic]

I sent my comments as well.

I also asked if they would consider adding the red tube to their shelves.

I didn't copy my mail for forum perusal, but it was just a well-worded request to consider moving these products, along with my personal experiences.

My personal experience was that I would have never have found these fine products without the directions of the folks here at B&B.

(rest of this is just my usual ranting about the strange things people do)

To me that's just a bit screwy, I should be able to find shaving products in the *gasp!* shaving aisle!

spa aisle......please....I want to find one "spa" that provides wetshaves...is there even such a thing?

 

[Queen of Blades]

Target's employees can't even tell you where to find Proraso! Target should be paying us.

 

[catatonic]

Ah, just stocking the splash aftershave, and putting the stuff in the right place is payment enough to me....

...well maybe stocking some other fine proucts as well...like some more Omega brushes, and a brush stand.

 

[olkev]

Target's employees can't even tell you where to find Proraso! Target should be paying us.

Now THAT is a true fact! When I first got started a couple of months ago I go down to the Target, head for the shaving aisle and ask if they had any shave brushes and cream to go with it. "No, I don't see any here." (they didn't want to be bothered either) "Well, I saw a posting on the internet that you had it in all of your stores." "Let me ask, . . . (radio chatter) . . . No, it must be an internet item." "OK, but, I don't think so." I go back home, checked out the original post, read further, and find "spa section", scratched my head and tried to figure out what that was, WENT BACK and found it, but could not find any of the employees in the HBA section to rip on . . . That made me as mad as anything . . .

All being said, I do not recall a huge stock of Proraso or any of the other niche men's toiletries that are placed there either. So, they are either selling it or keeping a lower inventory.

 

[Queen of Blades]

Two things.

1. I believe they are keeping a low stock. I've never seen the shelf fully stocked.

2. Why Target isn't carrying Proraso on their website I don't understand.

 

[mpisarcik]

Sorry to have to disagree-

After many years in the retail sector, and my current job as a broker for 14 different food companies- I can tell you that it won't move. To move the proraso line would require a 'reset' of both the shave and spa sections. Then, proraso would have to pay more money to be on the shelf next to Gillette and the other large brands. Then, they would have to send out a company wide request for a merchandiser company to be hired to reset these aisles.

In short- it’s in a place that it belongs if you think about it- the spa section, a.k.a- pamper yourself with these Caldo and Proraso products. I found it no problem, and so have many others because it is always moving off the shelves at the several valley stores I have visited in Phoenix. If it moves to the shaving aisle- you'll never be able to get it because too many people will find it. its a simple law of economics- distribution of a scarce resource.

If you do some research- you'll find that a separate import/export company is responsible for Proraso being in the states in the first place. They are not going to pay more so that it can be in the Shave section. My job has to do with product shelf placement in 6 different grocery store chains- and believe me- it isn’t moving unless Proraso or their import company pays up.

The best thing that we could do is write emails praising them for carrying it. This at least will do something. Schematics for store section are compiled months to years ahead of time, and manufacturers have to pay BIG $$$ to get better shelf space. Target doesn't really care if Proraso is moved; because the company isn't going to pay what Gillette pays in the shaving aisle.





So if we like the convenience of buying it local, do the following-

-send an email to Target thanking them for carrying it
-talk to general or grocery manager of your local store and tell him you and others locally enjoy this fine product.
-the most you can ever hope for near the shave section is a temporary 'end cap', i.e. the displays at the end of aisles. Often, these are the only sections that local managers have jurisdiction over, and that target corporate doesn't always have schematics for.



Sorry to burst any bubbles, but like I said, I take care of issues like this on a daily basis.

 

[olkev]

Matt,

Great explanation and sound reasoning.

I just wish employees KNEW SOMETHING about where and what is on the shelves. It seems that retail today in stores like Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart and the like, they only have the employees there for the store's own benefit (restock, sweep or checkout) and not the customer. Nobody seems to know anything about product anymore. It's like, put it on the shelf, somewhere, even if it is not a logical progression, (that's another issue, and I understand it but don't like it) and let them have at it. When I go to the store anymore, I'm usually on a mission. I know what I want, I want to get it and get out. That's why I buy more and more over the internet.

. . . but, I digress. I know that's not your area . . .

Thanks for the info.

 

[Queen of Blades]

Thank you for the info, Matt.

Do you have any idea why Target wouldn't carry Proraso online, though?

 

[vox_rox]

Pierre,

There are shops in Canada that sell Proraso... In fact, I have a little Itallian grocery store about a 5 minute walk from my home that carries a limited range of Proraso products... Also you can find it in SOME independent drug stores as well as at some of the Loeb grocery stores. If you look for it, you will find it... that said, we still don't have Target, so you don't need to e-mail them.

Well, I think there may be some independant shops that stock it, but everywhere I go, I ask only to get some vague, blank stare. I woulld love to have a small drug store around the corner (or across town really!) that carries at least some of the shaving supplies that I us, but so far only the C&E shop and The Body Shop at a nearby shopping mall is all I get. I guess that's better than a kick in the crotch with golf shoes, but it's not much.

I mean, I'm not looking for every corner store to start carrying Trumper or anything. Still, I guess ordering from the U.S. is not the most painful thing I can do, crashing my moutnain bike has that covered (long story).

And, yeah, no Target stores, which is fine. We don't need more retail in Canada, just maybe that the retailers that already exist having broader vision. Whatever.

Peace,

Pierre

 

[ada8356]

Matt,

Great explanation and sound reasoning.

I just wish employees KNEW SOMETHING about where and what is on the shelves. It seems that retail today in stores like Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart and the like, they only have the employees there for the store's own benefit (restock, sweep or checkout) and not the customer. Nobody seems to know anything about product anymore. It's like, put it on the shelf, somewhere, even if it is not a logical progression, (that's another issue, and I understand it but don't like it) and let them have at it. When I go to the store anymore, I'm usually on a mission. I know what I want, I want to get it and get out. That's why I buy more and more over the internet.

. . . but, I digress. I know that's not your area . . .

Thanks for the info.

What I've found is that employees do where products are, but only IF it is a product in their assigned section. So if you ask someone over in the shaving section about Proraso they won't have a clue because it is in the Spa section... and that's someone elses baby... at least that seems to be a trend that I've seen.

FWIW, in my Target the Proraso is really in a pretty good area even though it is in the Spa section... it is on an outward facing shelf at eye level so many people see it just passing by while headed to other parts of the store.

 

[crispy]

I mean, I'm not looking for every corner store to start carrying Trumper or anything.

Hrm...interesting proposition there!