Victory in the war against Gillette Price Gouging
I shave everyday. I like a close shave. For years I had been using Gillette products. I had stolen my dad's gillette razor back in the late sixties. He had started using cartridge razors and a Philips electric razor so he didn't miss it. I used it for about fifteen years until I dropped it and it stopped being a great shave. Not being able to be replaced I started down the road of the multi blade razors, the Trac 2, Atra, etc ending with the five bladed razors they offer today. Not bad shaves so I didn't mind. I noticed in the last few years that the replacement cartridges were getting more expensive. I started running the blades longer, getting a lousier shave. The prices kept going up and I noticed they now only sold 4 cartridges instead of 5 in a package. That gave them a nice revenue increase. Smar marketing but that was enough, they had passed my price vs value point.
My battle began by only shopping sales. That gave me some price relief but taking a dollar off didn't do much. Prices went up more. I began looking at other brands, Schick, Bic etc. Harry's and Dollar Shave. The blades were cheaper but the supply in stores was really sloppy. Gillette had managed to dominate the racks. I would have gone to Harry's or Dollar Shave but I travel too much to rely on mail delivery. I also couldn't stand the amount of waste with the disposals. There had to be a solution.
Finally I started searching for my old Gillette Double edge safety razor. No joy, Lyndy had junked it. With a little research I found that out in the far reaches of the internet there is a thriving community of shaving aficionados. There were new razors being made, blades were cheap, guys were raving about the great shaves they were getting. Just about the moment I was getting ready to order a new razor I found
Kent of Inglewood here in Calgary. With all the new brands (new to me) I thought I would drop in and see the real thing.
The store on the southside of Ninth Avenue was easy to find. The store is a combination of shaving, knives, axes, almost anything with a blade and a thriving barber shop. I met Mike, one of their reps and explained my dilemma, he ran me through the razors and the blades, I was only going to look but ended up buying a new Merkur. My battle was won and the war is over.
J
