I had recently had the thought the other day wondering why is it that it is so rare to see DE blades and/or razors in most pharmacies, grocery stores etc? It seems the only place to readily get blades is only online and even then you have to do a bit of searching to get certain brands
Blade availability
- Thread starter steve638
- Start date
IMHO, this is a sad commentary on today's throw away cult.ure
That’s pretty much the situation around here also. 
Because vast amounts of advertising money has been spent persuading people to buy inferior cartridge razors. Shops tend to stock items that people are likely to buy. Also some retailers might be a bit nervous around selling DE blades incase they are used as a weapon, for self harm, etc. Oh and they are probably less profitable (retailers margin higher % of a much lower unit price)
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I would say that we are past the peak of the revitalized interest in traditional shaving with a DE razor. For a while, the big box stores stocked DE blades, but I think economics has again forced them to drop stocking them.
I don't know. When I started DE shaving, which was before the renaissance of wetshaving or just at its very beginning, I saw a fair number of local stores carrying DE blades like Personna or maybe Derby or something like that. My sense at the time was that they were stores that had an older clientele though, and were more likely to also carry injector blades and older model cartridges too.
After awhile I started seeing DE blades showing up in more places, but they were always brands that I wasn't too interested in.
My general impression is that some of these stores kind of dipped their toes in the water only half-heartedly and didn't capture either the dedicated wetshaving crowd, or the cartridge crowd. I fear that some of the smaller or regional stores that were offering things like Personna might have lost out on some business when people like me buy online just to try other products, or to buy in bulk. It's a mixture of increased online competition, not keeping up with interests, and some other things.
Why stores offer the products they do is sort of a mystery in general to me though. I could make similar observations about soap, shampoo, household cleaning products and a wide variety of other things.
For me personally, the pandemic sort of reset my approach to stores in general. I could always get a more reliable stream of products from smaller local stores during the worst of it, and have noticed they often carry different types of items as well.
Indeed. My local Wal-mart barely carries Van Der Hagen razor blades (a box of 5 for $2.99). Meanwhile the Mexican market carries a few different brands of razor blades (mostly P&G labels, I think). Now that I am a wet-shaver, I'll be sure to throw them some business.
In the UK the King C Gillette and Wilkinson Sword's 'The Edger' TTO have slightly increased the minimal shelf space allocated to DE shaving. You can occasionally get KCG, Wilkinson and own brand DE blades but they are around 20x the price I am used to paying in bulk. It would be nice to support DE at retail but I'm deep enough into the hobby that the products they stock don't inspire me. If the Internet hadn't become mainstream then I guess that's what I would have to buy and it would be OK.
Because lying to the public that carts and electric are superior to DE, and pushing people into said eco systems, is more profitable. It is no secret how much cart blade replacements costs, and even more so, electric shaver head replacement costs. Companies make far more money, on selling you modern shaving systems. Its all about the all mighty GREED.
So why don't they sell DE blades in every pharmacy, 2-reasons. 1, they won't make as much money, and 2, the safety razor shaver crowd is still so small, its considered niche. They companies are going to use the SOP that makes them the most money, regardless of the ethics on lying to people, and draining their pockets books on blade replacement carts costs and overpriced shaver heads.
Gillette is really going crazy with their stupid gimmicks. lmao heated razor? How does that even work? The temp will drop if you rinse it with water so it makes really no sense. The price of the carts is just insane. 5-8 euro for one cart? You can get 100 Astra SP's for 8 euros.
As much as we don't want to admit it, the truth is one. Classic wet shaving is the least popular method of shaving these days. If wet shaving isn't a hobby for you, and you do it just to keep yourself clean and looking decent, there are much easier and faster ways to achieve this.
Demand determines the market!
The two major supermarkets here are definitely getting their moneys worth from their DE blade sales (ie gouging), 10 packs of Wilkinson swords (currently made in India, used to be German) and King C Gillettes (the packs I've checked are still Russian, goes to show how slowly they sell) both sell for $14 AUD (about $9.20 USD), absolute rip off.
Since almost everyone that uses a DE is a bit nerdy about it, even if they don't go down the gear acquisition rabbit hole, it makes me wonder who is buying single packs of DE blades at massively inflated high street prices. I suspect it's probably some poor old sods who have been DE shaving since God was a boy and never got up to speed with the interwebs, so they think that's just what DE blades cost now.
Even if it wasn't a hobby once you are over the small hurdle of getting the DE technique (which you would have done anyway with cartridge razors) then it is a very easy and better way of keeping yourself clean and decent. I hope to pass DE shaving on to my sons. My youngest likes to 'play shave' with my razor collection - I always have to double check there are never any blades left in them!
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
I could probably find some blades in the real world if I looked hard enough. Although my previous "go to" would have been Wilko, and they went belly up this year. Maybe my local Boots or Superdrug has some...
In times past, I went through a few blade droughts, when I was only buying in person. The worst was around the turn of the millennium, when the English Wilkies disappeared, and before the German Wilkies took their place. That one knocked me back to cartridges and disposables for a few months. Eventually I started buying online, and now have a stockpile of about 500 blades.
While I'm now going back to in person spending only from the new year (personal lifestyle choice), I am very glad I have that stockpile. I don't expect finding double edge blades in town to get any easier. It will be more expensive too, and buying two packs of five blades in person, will probably cost what I would pay for 100 blades online.
In times past, I went through a few blade droughts, when I was only buying in person. The worst was around the turn of the millennium, when the English Wilkies disappeared, and before the German Wilkies took their place. That one knocked me back to cartridges and disposables for a few months. Eventually I started buying online, and now have a stockpile of about 500 blades.
While I'm now going back to in person spending only from the new year (personal lifestyle choice), I am very glad I have that stockpile. I don't expect finding double edge blades in town to get any easier. It will be more expensive too, and buying two packs of five blades in person, will probably cost what I would pay for 100 blades online.
I was in Boots today and saw they had 4 different DE blades - KCG, WilkinsonS, own brand premium and own brand budget. The WilkinsonS were 4.60 GBP for 10. There were no DE blades in Superdrug today. If you are in the UK then consider getting a bulk order in before your new year's resolution starts. I am loving the 500 Silver Star blades that I bought from La Barbiera at just over 0.04 GBP each - they are so good I keep gravitating to them despite having large quantities of other more premium blades.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Thanks for the heads up
To be honest, those 500 blades might outlive me, as I do get quite long life from them.
I certainly appreciate your insights as to what's happening on the High Street though. 
The objective truth requires them to say that this is not the easiest way to shave, no matter how good your technique. A simple example, shaving with a high-end electric shaver takes a maximum of 3 minutes. As in this shave, no redness, no cutting and it's smoother and deeper compared to some soft shavers like the R89. Compared to wet shaving, during those 3 minutes, I'll still be whipping up lather in the bowl.
I've been shaving for over 30 years, I've used all kinds of methods. Contrary to the ingrown hair rumor that multi-bladed razors produce, when I've shaved with one, I've never seen any ingrown hairs. But, just a month after I started using R41, I found my first ingrown hair.
However, I love wet shaving and the nice products that go with it. But that doesn't stop me from actually looking at the facts. And they say there are significantly easier ways to shave. Ways that take only 1:5 of the time we have to spend on a classic shave and they are not worse nor less effective.
This is the main reason why small societies like ours account for a negligible percentage of people who shave. Which means, accordingly, little consumer demand. Therefore, products related to wet shaving are not sold in all stores. There's just no demand.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
I do have a moustache and goatee, so do factor that in here, but most of my double edge shaves are complete in under five minutes. Some are complete in under three. I know of no way of me being able to shave closely and comfortably in one fifth of that time
It might not be the easiest way to learn, but it is the easiest and fastest way for me to shave now. I doubt very much that a cartridge or disposable would be any quicker. I cannot use electrics, or at least I couldn't when I was younger. They gave me far more irritation than a wet shave. I haven't used one in over 25 years though, and have no intention to revisit it.
Ingrown hairs were definitely one of the reasons why cartridges were bad for me. Although I didn't know that until after I'd decided to save money with the cheaper double edge blades (this was in the early '90s). Again, I haven't used cartridges for many years. Even now, I do still suffer ingrown hairs occasionally, but that's just the nature of my beard. I certainly get far fewer now than I ever did with "modern" wet shaving kit (cartridge or disposable).
We are indeed a negligible percentage of the overall shaving population, but traditional shaving isn't advertised as a superior shave to the majority. They're bombarded with messages of the safety and comfort of more profitable systems.
A few years back, I gifted a razor and blades to a guy 20 years my senior. He never used it. Couldn't bear to bring it to his face. He lathered up, loaded the razor, got it within an inch of his face, chickened out, and reached for his Mach 47 or whatever the latest gizmo is. He's just one of the vast swarm who are conditioned to think traditional shaves are scary.
There's no demand because of the supposed safety and comfort of £5 cartridges, and £100 electric things. Plus of course, the eternal marketing notion that the new thing on the market is always better than the old thing that is being phased out.
That's a long winded way of saying that your objective truths might not be entirely objective. Or at least, they don't feel that way to me.
