Walgreens must be INSANE

[sandmountainslim]

I was looking at shaving supplies at Walgreens yesterday and they had Personna DE blades and a little tag BRAGGING that the blades were "Only 69.9 Cents each"!!

Holy Mother of Cake!!!
I couldn't help but laugh out loud in the store.

Good quality blades like Wilkinson Sword at Wal-Mart and Super Thins on ebay and Personna Reds are less than a third of that price!

What are they thinking??

Wp

 

[Loric]

They are thinking they sound like a bargain next to the $5 Gillette cartridges.

 

[cnnc97]

They are thinking they sound like a bargain next to the $5 Gillette cartridges.

Exactly, it is a bargain compared to those things. There are probably some old gentlemen that don't know how to use a computer still getting their DEs from the drugstore. Gotta lure them in.

 

[Topgumby]

Loric and cnnc97 have the answer here.

The mere fact that there are any DE, SE or Injector blades at a major drugstore chain is testament to a group of wetshavers that we probably don't see here and rarely think about.

Between 1972 and today, somebody has been buying those overpriced ASR house branded blades at the drugstore. There are probably fewer and fewer customers for them as time takes it's toll on the last of a group we could call the refusenicks, the guys who for whatever reason, just said no to all the advertising for cartridge razors, or who tried it and went back to the old razor that had served them well.

Before widespread access to online sources, and to this day for old timers who aren't on the net, those overpriced blades were and are all that's available.

Here's to the refusenicks, the guys who never stopped or went right back, and we'll likely never hear from. I salute their wisdom.

 

[M. Diego]

Actually 69.9 cents is an impossible price, if they mean 69 cents then it's ridiculous. Feathers and Iridiums at $4.50 the 10-pack are the most expensive at West Coast Shaving, and still those are around 25% more expensive.

 

[Swampfox]

Sounds like a bargain to me.

 

[mandoman]

must go to Walgreens

 

[DE Shaver]

It's a steal at twice the price.

 

[rtt]

loric and cnnc97 have the answer here.

The mere fact that there are any de, se or injector blades at a major drugstore chain is testament to a group of wetshavers that we probably don't see here and rarely think about.

Between 1972 and today, somebody has been buying those overpriced asr house branded blades at the drugstore. There are probably fewer and fewer customers for them as time takes it's toll on the last of a group we could call the refusenicks, the guys who for whatever reason, just said no to all the advertising for cartridge razors, or who tried it and went back to the old razor that had served them well.

Before widespread access to online sources, and to this day for old timers who aren't on the net, those overpriced blades were and are all that's available.

Here's to the refusenicks, the guys who never stopped or went right back, and we'll likely never hear from. I salute their wisdom.

+1

 

[Swampfox]

It's a steal at twice the price.

They also sell Clubman Styptic Pencils for $2.99.

 

[GDCarrington]

They hold on to this limited volume item in their supply chain to please a very small number of customers. The lack of turnover causes their retention overhead to increase on this item versus other items that they can move in high volume, or in which they can discontinue. They will charge more because of overhead and low cash flow generation on this product. Cash flow to a retailer is as important as overall profit. They go hand in hand.

Topgumby has a point that the "refusenicks" have held these products in the stores to a very limited extent. My hat is off to them as well. They bore the brunt of the lack of DE supplies until the internet provided alternatives. Thank to all the "refusenicks."

 

[htownmmm]

To the refuseniks:

We salute you!




At least these stores kept the items stocked until those of us who came behind knew what to do with them.


marty

 

[Scott0079]

Who's more foolish, the fool, or the fool who follows him? ....Had to.

 

[newboy]

The only safety razor blades (DE/SE) I can buy at my local supermarket are $10 for 10 WS DE blades, so $1ea.
Without the internet, no one in australia would be using a safety razor.
New technology saved old technology

 

[Greglam]

Actually 69.9 cents is an impossible price, if they mean 69 cents...

Ummmm, no, it isn't an "impossible price". If, by "impossible" you mean something can't be "69.9 cents" then just take $6.99 and divide it by 10 and see what you come up with.

If, however, you mean, "no way can someone be charging that amount of money for 10 blades" then I would simply invite you to ask some of our Canadian brethren how much they are paying for DE blades at their local Shoppers Drug Mart. I assure you, they would be THRILLED to pay $6.99 for 10 blades.

Cheers and Happy Shaving!
-Greg

 

[El Judio Bravo]

As a veteran of retail I can tell you that what they are doing is taking a liability and trumpeting it as an asset. An old ploy.

I used to sell home entertainment equipment for a large "anchor-store" at one of our justly famous New Jersey shopping malls. This was just when VCRs were coming down in price due to a surge in manufacturing in many countries in east Asia, undercutting the Japanese juggernaut.

I had one inexpensive model that had ten thumb-wheels which could tune in one channel at a time. All the other machines had direct, random-access remote control tuners; if you were hooked up to CATV you could get any one of dozens of channels on demand. But I turned it around: Look, I'd tell my customers. With this machine you can lock in any ten channels you want! And they bought those machines and lined my pockets; I worked on commission.

Psychology, friends! Remember "The Music Man"?

 

[SRock]

They are thinking they sound like a bargain next to the $5 Gillette cartridges.

Yup, and as P.T. Barnum is oft credited as saying, "There's a sucker born every minute."

In this case Walgreens is banking on it.

 

[Swampfox]

They hold on to this limited volume item in their supply chain to please a very small number of customers. The lack of turnover causes their retention overhead to increase on this item versus other items that they can move in high volume, or in which they can discontinue. They will charge more because of overhead and low cash flow generation on this product. Cash flow to a retailer is as important as overall profit. They go hand in hand.

Topgumby has a point that the "refusenicks" have held these products in the stores to a very limited extent. My hat is off to them as well. They bore the brunt of the lack of DE supplies until the internet provided alternatives. Thank to all the "refusenicks."

Excellent points.

 

[ackvil]

Down here the same policy holds true in our grocery stores. Only Publix does not brag about the price.

Our Wal-Mart down here finally started carrying the Wilkinson blades. They devote one peg to it and when I was there yesterday there were all of two packages left for sale.

 

[TheOneBlackMage]

If, however, you mean, "no way can someone be charging that amount of money for 10 blades" then I would simply invite you to ask some of our Canadian brethren how much they are paying for DE blades at their local Shoppers Drug Mart. I assure you, they would be THRILLED to pay $6.99 for 10 blades.

I would completely agree with this. I've just started wetshaving, and all I could find was the generic ASR blade 10 packs at Shoppers. I was excited when I made a trip down to the States, and saw the same pack at Walgreen's for so much less.

It wasn't until I found this site, and started looking online that I realized how cheap the blades actually are. I want to buy a 100 pack of blades (probably Derby), but I want to try out some different kinds first, so I know I have a type of blade I will be able to live with for that many.

I like browsing through the supplies at Shoppers or Rexall, but I'm slowly finding out that it's not worth buying in the store. The Rexall near me sells Proraso, but I can find everything at a much better price online.