Beards boom, razor sales drop

Razor sales suffer during 'hairy' quarter

DETROIT – From the World Series to a show of support for men's health, it seems beards were booming all over America during the end of 2013. Bloomberg News has reported that Proctor and Gamble's sales of non-disposable razors and blades were down almost 8% in the final quarter of last year.

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You may remember the Boston Red Sox all grew beards during the World Series, which sparked interest in beards. That was followed by Movember, the mustache movement created to raise awareness of men's health issues during the month of November.

READ: Boy can't grow Movember mustache

Movember is a global charity started in 2003 in Australia to raise awareness for prostate cancer and testicular cancer by encouraging men to ditch razors and grow mustaches. In 2013, about 219,000 Americans raised more than $20 million for the programs that Movember funds. If you watch NBC's The Today Show, you may have seen Matt Lauer, Al Roker and company stopped shaving for the month.

 

The folks at Proctor & Gamble are taking the blip in beard growth in strike. The company's CFO told the Financial Times, while facial shaving is down somewhat, more people are shaving body hair. You might call that a "growth industry".

 

Globally, P&G's second-quarter sales were still up 3 percent, said company spokesman Paul Fox. He attributed the decline in the U.S. market to a reduction in the number of people wet shaving and a shift from pricier razors to disposables.


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