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Commentary From Our President

What Men Want? A Look at Men’s Grooming

Michael D. Sleeper, President/CEO, Imperial Distributors, Inc.

Times have changed. It's no longer considered effeminate for men to use body wash, skin lotion or body sprays. And the trend is building the HBC business. Men’s grooming is a big multi-billion-dollar market with solid growth.

Market data shows that men today are amenable to products they might have once scorned. And it’s not only a matter of attitude; it’s also a matter of demographics and good health. Older men, whose numbers are growing faster than other groups, are buying products for skin protection that help slow the body’s aging process. Younger men, many of them in their teens, are looking to smell good and keep clean with the help of new body sprays and bathing gels.

Men’s Care items--in categories such as skin care, deodorants, bathing gels, etc., are building on the Shaving Needs business, the king pin of the Men’s Grooming category. Today, even the shaving category, has changed with the proliferation of new high tech shaving products.

Another anomaly that has strengthened the men’s category is men's hair coloring. Led by Combe’s Just for Men, hair coloring has established itself as a solid performer in the shelf plan. Rogaine, meanwhile, has also done well in HBC’s hair care sections. And men’s fragrances have found a permanent home within the shaving skin care categories.

Here are some of the goings-on in Men’s Grooming today.

Procter & Gamble, HBC largest consumer goods manufacturer, recently acquired "The Art of Shaving," a retail chain of more than 50 high-end men’s stores. Literally dozens of new items in men's care can be found in these stores mostly bearing the Gillette brand name. P&G has also resurrected Old Spice with new packaging and associated items to compliment its basic aftershave lotion business.

Energizer Holdings, best known for its Energizer batteries also produces Schick razors/blades, and has acquired Edge Shaving Cream from S.C. Johnson Co. This should provide a good companion for Schick.

Bic, a strong player in women's shaving, has come out with new technology for its men’s disposable razors.

And Unilever, a leading player in the Men's Care category, has built a formidable business with Axe products deodorant body sprays, shower gels, lotions. They have just announced a major move with l0 new Items for the Men's Hair Care line, with colorful packaging designed for young men and a new line of skin care, Clinical Therapy, plus Vaseline for Men.

Beiersdorf has been pursuing the men's skin care business for several years, with two dozen men's items under the Nivea label, including skin shaving (a gel and a “Post Shave Balm”) and hair care.

So the men's grooming business is growing. But supermarkets haven't done all that well with male shoppers in the past, especially young males. Traditionally, supermarket's core base has been women. Fortunately, male shopping is growing in grocery stores, and more grocery operators are realizing that having full and well-merchandised shelves for men’s products can help bring them in. Male shoppers are a desirable customer: Once inside the store, male shoppers buy high-impulse and high-profit items.

Supermarkets have a good chance to build their HBC business with Men’s Grooming. But only IF we work at it. Supermarkets should give men shoppers more attention by promoting and presenting men’s products in high-visible, well-organized sections, clearly signed and better merchandised. It’s a growing business that’s worth going after.

For comments or questions, contact us by phone at 508-756-5156, or e-mail: msleeper@imperialdistributors.com

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