A sign of wet shaving starting to penetrate the mainstream?

[CraigarTA]

I was wondering why I never saw anything at Targets in my area.
Wally World did carry the VDH kit, but Walgreens and Rite-Aide don't.
But we have no CVS stores in my area to check.

 

[CptBlueBear]

I dream of a day that teenages don't need to empty all the cans in the middle of the isle to see which ones smells the least like ***.

Like donkey?

Frankly I can't imagine a donkey wearing something that smells like that stuff.

 

[OmegaPaladin]

The real key will be seeing a new safety razor designed for the mass market. Basically, razors are foreign models, luxury designs, and a bunch of classics. There is a real lack of easily purchasable razors in stores, and that is what will hold up any major switch to DE.

 

[T.Ryan]

Some major pharmacy chains in central Illinois are showing signs of making wet-shaving supplies available. Limited choices, of course. Interestingly, a few store managers tell me they are forced to keep the multi-blade carts and razors under lock and key since these items are targets of thieves (shoplifters). Hmmm. Perhaps if they begin stocking more wet shaving products and cut back (pun intended) on the plastic, throw-away multi-blade stuff, slop-in-a-can, etc., they would find there is a market for traditional shaving. Must be the high price of the toss-away stuff which attracts thieves? Why anyone would buy, let alone steal, any of that
stuff, I'll never know.

 

[Beerman]

Some major pharmacy chains in central Illinois are showing signs of making wet-shaving supplies available. Limited choices, of course. Interestingly, a few store managers tell me they are forced to keep the multi-blade carts and razors under lock and key since these items are targets of thieves (shoplifters). Hmmm. Perhaps if they begin stocking more wet shaving products and cut back (pun intended) on the plastic, throw-away multi-blade stuff, slop-in-a-can, etc., they would find there is a market for traditional shaving. Must be the high price of the toss-away stuff which attracts thieves? Why anyone would buy, let alone steal, any of that
stuff, I'll never know.

I used to work in retail loss prevention. Expensive razor cartridges are a major target for organized crime rings, because of their size, price and the ability to quickly re-sell. These are a highly stolen item from EVERY major retailer. The chain I used to work for had a crime team come in, right before I was hired, and put close to 100 cartridges in a buggy and brazenly pushed the buggy right out the door. The merchandise was quickly unloaded into a waiting vehicle.

Go to your local flea market and see if there aren't MULTIPLE tables with expensive razor cartridges for sale at a few dollars off of store price. Those were mostly likely shoplifted and sold in bulk to the person selling them at the flea market (there might be some other legitimate ways to obtain these in bulk, but they are few and far between).


Beerman

 

[CptBlueBear]

I used to work in retail loss prevention. Expensive razor cartridges are a major target for organized crime rings, because of their size, price and the ability to quickly re-sell. These are a highly stolen item from EVERY major retailer. The chain I used to work for had a crime team come in, right before I was hired, and put close to 100 cartridges in a buggy and brazenly pushed the buggy right out the door. The merchandise was quickly unloaded into a waiting vehicle.

Shoplifters? That's not what we call organised crime out here, mate.

Talking to people who run supermarkets here, that sort of stuff doesn't go missing from the shelves as much as it disappears from the warehouse or during transit. I have it on good authority that putting the carts behind the checkouts with the cigarettes made almost no difference to the discrepancies in inventory

After a few months I note all the retailers put them back on the shelves, but in smaller volume. I suspect that has more to do with carrying lower stock levels to discourage theft from the store warehouse than shoplifting from the floor.

Go to your local flea market and see if there aren't MULTIPLE tables with expensive razor cartridges for sale at a few dollars off of store price.

I don't frequent flea markets or the like often but I've never seen them for sale out here like that. I've seen plenty for sale on eBay and (this is probably a cultural thing) everyone in Aus knows someone who sells stuff like this on the quiet out of his shed. I reckon I know where I could buy them along with a car stereo, "chop shop" cigarettes and dope. I'd bet money they walked out the back door of someone's warehouse.

Those were mostly likely shoplifted and sold in bulk to the person selling them at the flea market (there might be some other legitimate ways to obtain these in bulk, but they are few and far between).

I doubt you could supply the needed volume by shoplifting. Besides, there are a number of ways to source them legitimately.

If they're not significantly below store price then it's quite possible they are bought in volume from a cash-and-carry store. I don't know if you have these where you are, they are somewhere between a supermarket and a bulk store. Generally they existed to supply small stores and offices who didn't have the turn over to deal with the big distributors. In practice they'll sell to anyone who can think of a business name for the invoice. They used to be a lot more popular before we introduced a Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Aus 'cause you could duck paying the then 20% sales tax (it was a tax free sale on a cash invoice).

If you watch the local auction houses you'll see them come up in bulk lot's regularly in liquidation auctions.

I know of independent supermarkets that clear their warehouses by selling unwanted stock at cost to anyone who expresses an interest.

Finally you could just buy them from the distributor like your employer does. This means moving the most volume, but if you are running a number of stands at markets plus eBay I can see you getting through the necessary volume to go this path.

I'd only suspect stolen goods if the price was significantly below retail.

Don't get me wrong, shoplifting of these things does happen, but clearly out here it's not the main source of loss - as evidenced by stores putting them back on display. Having worked in a supermarket warehouse, I can tell you that's the biggest source of loss for everything from canned tomatoes to toilet paper. In front-of-house they steal in ones and two, out the back it's cartons and palates that disappear.

 

[jgkeegan]

Reading BCatl's post below, I don't think there's that much difference. We have KMart out here, no WalMart. I was under the impression there was a link, but quick Google says they are (or were) competitors in the States. KMart are the bottom of the market in terms of class. They recently tried to improve their image by refitting stores or at least cleaning them

They skipped cleaning the ones in my area. They make Walmart look like the Polo Club.

--james