A decline in interest?

Discussion in 'General Shaving Talk' started by swarden43, Aug 1, 2022.

  1. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    So Williams is no longer available locally; no love loss there.
    Now VdH shave soap and shave oil has been discontinued at the local grocery.
    I've heard of a few small batch producers going under.
    Is there a decline in interest of traditional wet shaving?
    What are you folks seeing, if anything?
     
  2. Jorvaljr

    Jorvaljr Operation Daytona 8000

    In my opinion, it’s over saturation. With all the artisan soap makers and all the scents.. i have probably 100 soaps and creams. Mostly all of mine have been 2nd hand and i haven’t even touched the majority of the artisans out there.
     
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2022
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  3. Queen of Blades

    Queen of Blades Mistress of Mischief Staff Member

    Moderator Supporting Vendor
    :signs011:
     
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  4. stingraysrock

    stingraysrock PIF'd away his custom title

    There was a member here that I am unable to dig up in order to quote, I think he is a male, went by the name of something like Chemerik, and might have been a school teacher somewhere.

    If I recall correctly, he was on the Moderator Team when I first found TSD in 2010.

    Anyway, I don't know what his story is or was, but I know for sure that he posted something here to the effect that people have a shaving awakening and for whatever reason, leave TSD, and/or shaving forums in general.

    Maybe these people left because they learned all they needed to learn in order to shave on the cheap, or a friend on the board, or something else.

    If I had my Druthers, I would like to still buy a number of discontinued artisan soaps or scents. JoAnna and Nana June for just a couple of examples.

    For myself, I have settled upon one blade holder, one brush, a few brands of blades/soaps/creams, and aftershaves. I am still here though, I appreciate seeing familiar names, and sending the random gifts to people that never asked for anything.
     
  5. John Beeman

    John Beeman Little chicken in hot water

    I don’t think there’s a decline in interest as much as I think the market is over saturated.

    Is there some decline in interest? Probably.

    Is the market over saturated? Definitely.

    Same thing with craft beers, home brewing, and all of that. People still like beer but some breweries will discontinue products and/or go out of business.
     
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  6. wristwatchb

    wristwatchb wristwatch "danger" b

    A popular online shaving vendor is currently offering 731 different shaving soaps and creams, with 100 more that are out of stock.
     
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  7. PanChango

    PanChango Not Cute

    It could also be that the population that purchased these items locally have aged out.

    Most people today were brought up using goop from a can, not a brush and a puck of soap.
     
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  8. feeltheburn

    feeltheburn Well-Known Member

    I guess the only explanation is the stuff isn't moving off the shelves fast enough. Is that because people are buying it online cheaper? Or buying stuff they like better online because the local retailers don't have the stuff they really want? Could be both of those things and maybe some other things too.

    I agree with you though that it seems like the past 10 years have seen a lot of products discontinued. Some weren't that great but some were. With all the good options out there, it seems like a lot of the good ones still just didn't sell well enough to make them worth producing.
     
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  9. poppi

    poppi Well-Known Member

    Way to many vendors/artisans I think. Just look on etsy, there's a bazillon or so it seems.
     
  10. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    I'll take the market oversaturation, thanks. Some of us still remember what it was like when the artisan market was in it's infancy.

    Sure, there were some good soaps, but a lot of the big names were putting out garbage, when they used to make good soaps, and were relying on brand name instead of quality. The great vegan "switch" was going on, and frankly, vegan soap sucked then.

    The 90's and early 2000's really sucked for shaving as a hobby. Don't miss it. Much.

    Edit: if anything, interest in wet shaving is on the upswing. We just don't see much of it here. The new hotness is Facebook groups and Youtube. Not much of a discussion format there, and a tendency to see Newbies spewing out bad advice, but it's growing.
     
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  11. Mike-R41

    Mike-R41 Well-Known Member

    I love the YouTube comment section and the Facebook groups. You meet so many awesome people, fourms are cool too if you want to write an article, or just prefer the smaller community
     
  12. Mike-R41

    Mike-R41 Well-Known Member

    We are spoiled with Products, I can name about three people that I met on the FB groups that just decided to make soaps and become an artisan. It’s really a great time in the past six years it’s really taken off in popularity. I love traditional WetShaving and this amazing group of people
     
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  13. Troy M

    Troy M Prep: Mephitis mephitis musk

    So many choices it can be overwhelming and I only have so much face and time. Some of us have multiple interests and would rather engage in them than simply talk/type about them. I know for me, after I sort of figured it out and wet-shaving and pampering my face became routine, I pretty much ceased coming here. The same thing happens with bicycles, knives, meat smoking, etc. I found the information and moved on.
     
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  14. Paul Turner

    Paul Turner outside the quote(s) now

    To paraphrase the famous Jim Croce song "Got A Name?"
     
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  15. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    From what I have seen, interest in traditional shaving is increasing. Concern over plastics in the environment and recycling seem to be a major driver. Cost savings in these inflationary times should drive growth even further.

    The shift to online sales would explain the absence of traditional shaving products in stores. I don't think saturation is a major factor, though. A few thousand wetshavers hoarding gear like there is no tomorrow is just a drop in the overall bucket. If they stop buying, then it would hardly be noticed.
     
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  16. Bax

    Bax Well-Known Member

    Stuff always comes and goes.
    I'm just going to ride the wave until my board hits the beach.
    If the surf's no longer up, then I'll find something else to occupy my disposable income.

    Without wet shaving as a hobby, I'd likely spend my disposable income on bad whisky, fast women, and slow horses... but I'd probably just WASTE the rest.
    :)
    - Bax
     
  17. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    I have seen this scenario over and over. (and personally experienced it).
    Newbie wet shaver dives head first into our hobby. Purchases waaaay more than they can ever use. Now they have exploding shave dens with more gear than they will ever use in a life time.
    Spending eventually subsides and in many cases, stops. Next up: den clearing.
    Not only is the market saturated, but we consumers are overloaded.
     
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  18. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    What really made me begin this thread was what I noticed in the local grocery stores and department stores, or rather, a lack of.
    Several years ago I could go in just about any store that had a men's grooming section and have a selection of 2-3 brands of DE blades, 1-2 brands of SE blades, usually it was Williams or VdH as options for soap, and you could even get a brush.
    These days options are limited to canned goo or lather-less shave cream. There is, however, a plethora of items for the beard - oils, balms, and washes/shampoos.
    4-5-6 blade carts are in abundance, also. :sick007: But that's me.
     
  19. poppi

    poppi Well-Known Member

    Same thing here in SE Lousiana. However, I can go to my local Dollar General and find DE blades and a DE razor called Shavely. Not a very good razor but it's out there and the store keeps replenishing them. Go figure
     
  20. Old School

    Old School *$&%@#~

    Supporting Vendor
    Retail is dying and trying to stay afloat. Walmart has shelf space down to a science, knowing how much $ per inch of shelf space they should turn in a day. They want high margin products that will flip on the shelf a few times a day. My guess is generic shave soaps maybe turn one a week at most, for not much $... so it's being replaced with other items in the category.
     
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