Can Dollar Shave Club Cut Gillette?

Probably not, but investors are taking notice: WSJ
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 12, 2012 3:31 PM CDT
Can Dollar Shave Club Cut Gillette?
A screenshot from Dollar Shave Club's much-shared video.   (YouTube)

By now you have probably seen, laughed at, and forwarded Dollar Shave Club's debut viral video (and if you haven't, you should). But how serious is the company as a business? The Wall Street Journal takes a look today, and concludes that the company is "surely tilting at windmills," given the size of competitors like Gillette. But the incumbents' teched-up multiblade razors have become such jokes that many entrepreneurs are willing to bet on it.

Dollar Shave Club managed to raise $1 million in seed funding based on that desire. They won't say how many subscribers they have, other than to say they signed up 12,000 in their first 48 hours. "There's clearly almost a backlash among shavers" over price, says one analyst. Since razor demand is constant, manufacturers have long relied on price hikes for growth. But Gillette says it's not worried. "If you want to spend 10 bucks a month, we have Gillette products available," a spokesman says. (More Dollar Shave Club stories.)

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