Carnival of Modern Man: The Art of Shaving

Business 2.0 did an article on The Art of Shaving, the article was titled:

The Art of Shaving's strategy: A cut above

By combining nostalgia and know-how, this luxury retailer is capitalizing on the men's grooming boom.

They seem to be doing a smart thing by combining a great experience with great products (well, at least they claim to be) and education. Here's a little bit about the experience from the article:

Part barbershop and part pampering spa, the Art of Shaving is pouncing on the fast-growing men's grooming trend by appealing to consumer nostalgia. Its 10 retail outlets - five of which have onsite barbers - are dedicated to making men better shavers by getting them to trade in their Barbasol.

They plan to open 40 more retail stores in the US over the next two years. They think they can capture the 'mainstream' audience. If by 'mainstream' they are talking about men in Manhattan, then maybe. But I don't think they will capture a mainstream audience in the broadest terms. I think they are doing a lot of smart things, especially with there focus on education, and their retro vibe which makes all this 'man pampering' feel a bit more manly and acceptable, but when a 1.7 Fl Oz bottle of Ingrown Night Cream costs $40, I think it will be a tough sell to a massive audience.

You can read the whole article here.

This post has been written as part of the Carnival of Modern Man.