Plus, the unavoidable implication that their original move away from DE into carts and disposables was kinda sorta a mistake.
Multiple salespeople at the two Art of Shaving locations near me have said that the release is upcoming, but that they keep being told that it is being delayed. All have said that their store very much wants to get the razor in stock. I have also read posts on the forums about employees in other AoS stores stating the same thing. It is a consistent message over a period of time from multiple, geographically dispersed sources. Smoke and mirrors? Maybe, but some of the responses I got were detailed enough to make that seem unlikely. Putting a spin on something is one thing, but flat out lying is quite another. If they had no plans to re-introduce the Tech, why would they say there is an upcoming release? That could be the case. Earlier artwork in the stores and on their website also showed the Tech. It does look pretty darned cool. It has already been greatly disrupted. Take a look at how much market share they are losing to Dollar Shave Club and Harry's: http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/04/04/gillette-bleeding-market-share-cuts-prices-razors.html Other companies, such as Dorco and Micro Touch, also offer competing, affordable cartridge systems, which does not help matters any for Gillette. The price of Gillette's cartridges is ridiculous, even for the Trac II. That makes them a prime target for shoplifters, causing retailers to put them on locked shelves. That, in turn, is a sales inhibitor and drives even more business to Dollar and Harry's. I think it made a lot of sense at the time. The lion's share of Gillette's profits came from blades. With increasing competition for double-edge blades, a break with the past was needed. The safety razor platform had been extended as far as it could reasonably go. Today, the cartridge razor platform has been extended far past its logical endpoint. That was Gillette's big mistake IMHO. Simply adding more blades, tweaking the little ball thingy, and changing the colors of the razor handles became insufficient years ago. Art of Shaving takes the razor-and-blades model a step further: Sell the razors as a luxury item at a profit, along with brushes, bowls and mugs. Don't worry too much about the blades, and sell preshaves, soaps, creams, aftershaves and colognes as the very high margin consumables. The software has become the new blades.
Also, as @BaylorGator has pointed out, new startups for large scale competition in the razor and blade market will/would require a lot of capitalisation. That's why the current operators (Timeless, Asylum, etc) are operating on a very small scale, and aren't even trying to get into making blades. They're selling the razors themselves at the level to make a profit. I don't see any _new_ razors coming on the market being sold as loss leaders. Low profits, perhaps, but profits nonetheless.
Good article. Thanks for sharing. Personally, I think their ONLY focus is increasing cartridge sales. That's their bread, butter, desert, and champagne. Any other type of razor or blades would further take customers away from cartridges. For them to make DE profitable they would have to do one of two things: 1. Somehow copyright the DE blades so nobody else could make or sell them. 2. Make DE razors at such a profit that the profit is higher than that of cartridges, which is impossible. The ironic thing is that they are losing brand loyalty but among the DE community, they already have it... and they don't care. -Mc
I disagree that any other type of razor or blades will take customers away. Yes, they might have customers moving away from cartridges, but they would then move to another item they can sell. In many cases, they've already _lost_ those customers, so gaining any profit from them would be a boon.
I disagree. They have already started the marketing campaign on their cartridge razors that is focused on keeping old ones and getting back those who left. Their ONLY focus is growing their cartridge business and the way they are going to do it is be a little less greedy. There is ZERO profit for them in DE, especially if there's the risk that someone who's a loyal cartridge user decides to switch. Check out their site: https://www.gillettewelcomeback.com/
That is why they might do it. We are not the cartridge customers they are losing. They could see that DE shaving is big enough again to be worth it and many of us would love to see a new Gillette product. Two things worry me: That they will offer the cheapest garbage possible. That they will put manufacturers of other, good products out of business.
Good points. Having used both the Dorco T2 and new Gillette's, the name brand may have shaved a tiny bit better but that difference was not worth paying for the Gillette name. They are ridiculously overpriced, especially for something that (presumably) guys in their sixties and up are pretty much the only ones buying.
I think the possible distinction is that we're not talking about a Gillette product; we're talking about an AoS product which "borrows" the Gillette name. AoS, as has already been pointed out, is enough of a boutique retailer to get away with making a reborn Tech without disrupting Gillette's own core business.
Looks like Gillette's new safety razor will be here November 1. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XPRRV9Y/?tag=thshde-20 Maybe the earlier hints of a release were deliberately done to gauge market acceptance? Anyways, kudos to Gillette!
Hey, I have just pre-ordered. Thank you for posting. ***EDIT - Upon closer look, it seems like the razor is using a DE-89 head? I am now on the fence whether I should cancel. I already have two razors with this head. The case looks very fancy though and seems like a fun collectable. Not sure if it's worth taking up space in my den just for a gimmicky item. I might keep the order though. I wish Gillette would have done something more special with the design. I was hoping to get something that could maybe someday get re-plated, but it looks like a zimak head.
I agree it looks like a DE-89 head. Even though I enjoyed shaving with a DE-89 when I owned 1 I'm going to pass on a purchase. My RazoRock Game Changer provides me with the best all around shaver with durability from an entire stainless steel razor for a few dollars more.
That's what I thought, too. Art of Shaving already sells Muhle razors, some of which use the same head. That is likely where the Gillette-specific handle comes from, as well. But perhaps that is missing the point. Gillette has very wide reaching, very well established distribution and retail channels. Any razor branded with their name will have instant market penetration, to whatever extent the company chooses. Besides, the Muhle razors can deliver very good shaves. As for durability, I have had an Edwin Jagger DE89 for years, and it has not dissolved away. Zamak is not as bad as some make it seem.
