I was at my local grocery store picking up some Nivia ASB on the way to work and noticed these Kroger blades. Has anyone used them or have any experience with them? I'm working through a sample pack of other blades but I'll probably pick some up eventually and try them. It'd be nice to know I can get something locally in a pinch. edit: I forgot to upload the photo.
The package looks similar to the offerings of many store brands, all produced (probably) by ASR, under the Personna name. They are an okay blade. Nothing for me to get worked up about, but there are plenty of folks out there who buy them from Dollar General and formerly Walmart before Walmart switched to Wilkinson sourced blades. http://www.personna.com/personna/blades/shaving/detail/double-edge/
So many of these private label blades, can't keep up with them anymore. Yes, as Jeff noted, the Kroger blades could be made by Wilkinson-Sword (whose parent company Energizer now owns ASR/Personna/GEM/PAL). They could also be made by Dorco (a South Korean company that also has a manufacturing plant in Mexico). Either one. Sometimes you can tell on the back of the package.
Those look similar to the generic DE blades that Loblaw sold in their Superstore locations here. They were nothing to really write home about, a decent blade that lasted about 3 shaves. They would be good as a backup, but there are cheaper and better options if you are willing to get blades by the 50s or 100s.
If you look on the back next to the barcode, sometimes there will be a "made in" or "imported from" line that will tell you where they're from.
There's a grocery store that buys out discontinued store stock here that has about a dozen of the Kroger branded 10 blade dispensers for $1.05 each. They are definitely made by Personna/ASR.
I found these blades at Fred Meyer, a west coast store, which uses the Kroger brand. They sure look like the Personna shown above, yet..... They cost twice as much (paid #2.79 on sale) and the package says: Blades Made in USA and if you do not like them, call Kroger and get your money back. Pulled the Feather out of me B-3 SS, and tossed one in. Will See
I used one this morning just because I bought a pack a while back and they were still sitting in the medicine cabinet when I needed a blade. I agree it's an ok blade that will do in a pinch. Better than some I've used but not quite a favorite either. They seem to give me 2 good shaves and 1 decent one. They're made by American Safety Razor (Personna) and it's their bottom tier blade. Next one up is the Blue Lab with "comfort coating".
Just wanted to post an update to say that Kroger has either changed their source, or they use more than one. I picked up a pack of Kroger DE blades from my local Fred Meyer today and the back of the package says they're made in Israel. Might be worth trying, for anyone who still likes to sample and has only had the USA blades.
Yeah, seems like all the store brands are now Made in Israel. Not sure what that means for ASR. Hopefully they're not discontinuing making DE blades in USA or anything like that.
They are most like made by Personna in Israel and those blades tend to draw high praise for many in the traditional shaving community. Oh and BTW... Welcome to the Den. We know you'll fit right in. So grab yourself a comfy chair, and give our threads a spin! Burma Shave
ASR is now a part of Energizer-Schick. Energizer-Schick has reduced the product lines of Personna in the U.S. to cover, construction/contractor/industrial blades, beauty (where the US Personna DEs are still marketed) and laboratory work where the specialty blades and injectors are still produced and sold.
The Kroger branded blades (along with CVS and Walgreen's, I believe) are definitely Personna blades. I got a bunch of them at the Kroger near here for $2.87 (for 10 blades) which is the best price I've seen locally. CVS wanted nearly $8 for the same thing. They are a good every-day blade, IMHO. And they have the advantage of being available locally.
