In the event you thought the market for high-end men's grooming products is going anywhere, (1) You were wrong before this post, and (2) Now you are really, really, really wrong. How so?
Because monolithic e-retailer Amazon.com is opening what's being described as a 'Men's Prestige Site'!
Yes, prestige, as in that which is preserved through high-quality and non-ubiquitous offerings, which is funny, because all of these supposedly "prestige" offerings are about to get much more ubiquitous, and cheaper, too.
Amazon's new site, which can be found at amazon.com/mensgrooming, is good news for you, Guy Who Buys $49 $24 Bottle of Kyoto Oil Control Lotion, and bad news for whoever's used to sell it to you locally and just got totally undercut. Does it matter than Amazon is a machine and your local retailer is a human? Hell no! If you're the kind of person who needs to look up how to shave, then you will surely benefit from Amazon.com's guide to teaching you how to shave (which mostly involves buying things).
And can your local retailer say they have a 10,000 square foot warehouse in Williamsburg, Brooklyn that they shoot their own fashion photos with? No?
Well—via the press announcement—Amazon can:
None
So, for those of you who want to get your Baxter of California products packaged with that new Slotted Pelton Spatula, today is your lucky day. And for those of you who either
(A) Live in Williamsburg? Or
(B) Are the owner of a small business who embodies the value of retailing locally via carefully curated selections and interpersonal customer care? Or
(C) Are both?
Well, your life's and/or your life's work just got a little shittier, because a corporation has just started to undercut your way of life. Commerce!
