Art Of Shaving to close most of its stores

Discussion in 'General Shaving Talk' started by Angelo85, Feb 2, 2020.

  1. John Beeman

    John Beeman Little chicken in hot water

    I picked up a tub of AOS Bergamot and Neroli cream awhile back at a Marshalls/TJMaxx on the cheap and just used it this morning for the first time. I was quite pleased with the performance and I’ll be keeping an eye out for some more.
     
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  2. Pattorashu

    Pattorashu Member

    It's a decent product at an outrageous price. Not to mention 100+ dollar Gillette Mach 3 handles? I'll pass on those as well.

    I picked up some AoS Eucalyptus cream for $10 at Marshalls as well, absolutely worth $15 to maybe $20. Hard pass at $30, 40 plus.

    There's just similar or better product at a much more accessible price IMO.

    If they cornered the high end market for DE razors and dropped their prices to ToBS range, they'd be hot to trot.

    Bad marketing.
     
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  3. Carson West

    Carson West Well-Known Member

    I think he meant a lot of guys took one look at their prices and immediately thought, "Wet-shaving is too expensive. I'll stick to cartridges," without bothering to seek out online vendors. I remember admiring AOS's products in their ads for some years before looking elsewhere for more reasonably priced gear.
     
  4. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    Ah OK, I guess that might happen in some cases. Art of Shaving is what got me into traditional wetshaving. I was jonesing for one of those stylin' cartridge razors in their window display. But dang it was expensive. Then I took a look at the Fusion catridge prices. Ho. Lee. Fook. The safety razors were equally cool looking and double-edge blades were much less expensive, even at AoS prices. It made me reconsider traditional shaving, which I had read about before and dismissed at the time. AoS Gillette Platinum double-edge blades cost about as much as Trac II cartridges from the chain drugstores. Shaving soaps, creams, aftershave, preshaves, etc. can be used with both cartridge and safety razors, so there is no cost differential there. Nowadays, most people will look for cheaper online prices and alternatives for pricey items of any sort.

    AoS reaches people who would never know about premium shaving otherwise. I only go to my local AoS store very occasionally, but about half the time someone has come in there to get help fixing bad shaves. There was even one gent visiting from Australia who had been given a tub of their shaving cream by his son. He made it a point to come get another tub of "the best shaving cream I have ever used".

    For a lot of people, the terms "Internet forum" and "toxic" are synonymous. This is generally true, although there are some notable exceptions (like The Shave Den). Brick and mortar wetshaving stores will therefore reach a large segment of the public who have never visited or heard of wetshaving forums. That goes for Pasteur Pharmacy, Maggard's, Q Brothers, etc., as well as AoS. Art of Shaving has the greatest reach simply because it has the most stores. From what I can see, a lot of forum members dislike them because they are owned by a big corporation. That is politics and personal philosophy, however, and has nothing to do with shaving. Anything that raises awareness is good IMHO.
     
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  5. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    I am very sorry they are going out of business. It was a very classy store, sadly run by inept people. I even tried to get a job at one. I was, you can imagine extremely enthusiastic. The manager was slovenly and unshaven. Indeed he seemed quite disinterested in everything. I presented ideas about classes and shaving demonstrations. It all fell on deaf ears. They cooked their own goose.
     
    Last edited: Feb 29, 2020
  6. Carson West

    Carson West Well-Known Member

    Classes and demonstrations were great ideas and should have been no-brainers for them.
     
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  7. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    I thought they were closing some stores, not going completely out of business. IMHO, you hit the nail on the head with regards to the way some stores were run. It is surprising that P&G did not more closely supervise their stores. The first Art of Shaving store I saw was very well run at first, but soon declined. From what I could see, store management was out to lunch. The sales clerks, although polished and professional, knew little to nothing about their products or about shaving in general. It was obvious that they were capable, but inadequately trained. Contrast that with another AoS closer to me. Often they had very enthusiastic wetshavers working there, and it made a world of difference. Even the clerks who were not particularly into shaving knew the product line well, were well trained, and gave good answers to customer questions. Care to guess which store closed awhile back? ;)
     
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  8. Enrico

    Enrico Popcorn

    In the mid 2000's, I walked in to an AoS and thought wow nice razors. Then I picked up a Merkur 34c that was going for over $75 and said "No way!" That price chased me away from DE shaving for 3-5 years, at the time you could have bought a Merkur 34c for $25-30.

    I know they brought awarenesses to men (and ladies) of shaving, but they also gave a false sense of cost that can steer people away.

    :eatdrink013:
     
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  9. Trigger

    Trigger Double Jedi Knight

    I went to the only AoS store near me (35 miles) and the store was difficult to locate because of the mall design. I had to ask a clerk from another store to give me directions to find it. I get there and I am browsing through their inventory and the prices were outrageous. They only had a limited inventory of high priced straight razors of only one brand. Also, they had their name etched on the blade and it looked cheesy. Shave creams were 10 dollars/oz. The saleswoman had an attitude because I wasn't interested in buying at the moment but I needed to have some questions answered. Bad customer service, overpriced items and terrible location equals disastrous outcome.
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2020
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  10. Keithmax

    Keithmax Breeds Pet Rocks

    :signs011:

    Their tallow soap was one of the best ever hard soaps for me. Their creams are of excellent quality, I am surprised they generate so much while other big $$$ creams and soaps are gushed over and people justify it by the cost per shave. The stores were poorly run, poorly marketed and they brought this on themselves. Hopefully the creams will still be available online and at discount stores at lower prices.
     
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  11. Redfisher

    Redfisher Doesn't celebrate National Donut Day

    Good. Spendy, overrated typical mall crap.
     
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  12. DaltonGang

    DaltonGang Ol' Itchy Whiskers

    Very overpriced, but the creams are excellent. I havent tried their hard soaps.
     
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  13. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    They are all closed now.
     
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  14. MannyE

    MannyE New Member

    I just went to my local shopping mall and found out to my shock and disbelief that the AoS store was closed. I was disappointed. Even though their prices were quite high, AoS introduced me to the pleasure of traditonal shaving with a safety blade. I introduced both of my sons to AoS and now they can't go back to using cheap razors from the drug store. Even my wife also got a razor set from them. I especially loved their coriander cardamom, and sandalwood products. AoS has occasionally let me down-in fact, the reason why I went to the mall today was to get either a refund or a replacement for a shave brush because the handle separated completely from the badger hair (which remained glued together at the bottom). I was relieved to see that their products are still available on the internet, but for how long? With their prices still too high and their lack of a physical presence at a brick and mortar location, I can't see how they could continue to reach new customers and they couldn't rely on just their fan base to stay in business. I guess I will have to stock up on my favorite pre- and post-shave lotions and shaving creams before they're all gone...
     
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  15. Enrico

    Enrico Popcorn

    They were good in some ways, but the unfortunate truth is that malls cost alot to rent from and that reflects in high prices for them. The good news is there are quite a few excellent online shaving suppliers with great prices.

    :eatdrink013:
     
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  16. Sara-s

    Sara-s This Pun for Hire

    Though I can see why they closed, I hate to see a business close as its staff has lost jobs.
     
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  17. BBS

    BBS Well-Known Member

    That seems to be a common theme these days. You'd think corporate would have thought out the hiring policy better understanding the image you present with employees is part of the sale and require the males and shemales to be clean shaven or at least well groomed like having a goatee that requires some shaving. Stuff like that kills credibility before the customer even steps in the store when you are selling grooming products.

    This is what happens when you have morons setting policy that lack the simplest of common sense.
     
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