Skin Care For the Straight Guy
By George Anderson
American men are getting older, more concerned about their appearance and less worried how it might look for them to be found using a skin care or other beauty product.
Sales of men’s toiletries, which had been flat since 1996, jumped four percent last year to $1.3 billion, according to Mintel Reports.
An article in USA Today says men’s beauty care items are following a similar path as women with sales of these products moving from a counter in a department store to the shelves
of the local drugstore, grocer store or mass merchandiser.
Anne Sawbridge, marketing head for Neutrogena said, “No longer do men have to make a special trip to a department store where it may be more conspicuous to buy the product. It
normalizes the category.”
Moderator’s Comment: What does the increase in the sales of men’s HBC items mean for retailers?
It is interesting to note that while CVS has reportedly doubled shelf space because of the rapid rise in sales of men’s skin care items, Target announced
not long ago that it was reducing the size of its men’s apparel departments.
It seems the theory that the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy has turned us into GQ wannabe’s may have as many holes as our favorite pair of jeans.
[George
Anderson – Moderator]