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Move over Old Spice...
A search for "men and personal care" on Google will result in a minimum of 88 million hits indicating the interest in this emerging market. Previously untapped and underserved, this new arena is burgeoning with an incredible array of new merchandise lines. Popular products for the "male face" range from the Anti-aging Cream to the Lip Balm with SPF 15 to the Soothing Eye Gel.

Gone are the good old days - when the male grooming category consisted of blades, razors and shaving preparations. The more familiar shaving cream is still available, but it's finding itself in a more crowded, sophisticated landscape, competing for shelf space both at the grocery store and the local salon.

With an onslaught of marketing, leading manufacturers, such as Proctor & Gamble, have committed to men interested in combined fitness and good looks. Proctor and Gamble intends to diversify and increase its personal grooming line for men (coinciding with its acquisition of Gillette). Since 90% of P&G's personal grooming revenues currently stem from the traditional women's market, this manufacturing giant is joining smaller cosmetic companies, seeking the attention of young male consumers and male baby boomers for a good reason.

It's a tough, competitive world out there. Cosmetic, personal-care companies are betting that men will want to do battle by looking their best. The new war chest may just include night moisturizing cream, mousse and, even, plastic surgery.

Read this month's industry snapshot on Men's Personal Care. It's a (rejuvenated) eye opener.

Gloria J. Allen

Industry Snapshot: Personal Care

Take a look at our full industry report on Personal Care (PDF Format). If you are interested in other industry snapshots, visit our SBDC Counselors Toolkit.

Links of Interest

• Men's Plastic Surgery
• Men's Health
• Men's Skin Care
• New barber spas
• Sport Clips
• The Rooster Story

Did You Know?

What do Boston, Honolulu and Memphis have in common? They are three of 41 cities that have a weekly Business Journal published by American City Business Journals. About four million readers of the online version or print rely on the weekly to keep them abreast of their local business community. The annual Book of Lists reflects the local top 25 businesses in many markets such as public relations, real estate, banks or commercial printers. The journal archives found at http://www.bizjournals.com/, is a very rich source for finding articles on businesses going back ten years.

Are You Paying Attention to
Demographic Trends?

A work in progress, the U.S. Census Bureau is moving to combine state data into useful informational products. One product will track the daily commute of workers from where they reside to the workplace in what is called "On the Map". See the pdf here:

http://lehd.dsd.census.gov/led/datatools/ProjectUpdates/OnTheMap061205.pdf

The other project will involve state partners to share employment data with the expressed intent to search a geographic area such as the city, county or state level for job creation, turnover, and earnings by industry, age and sex. Most states are involved, as the map below shows:
Local Employment Dynamic Partner States

For more details regarding these two projects, see: http://lehd.dsd.census.gov/led/about-us/about-us.html, or
http://lehd.dsd.census.gov/led/datatools/datatools.html

Contact Us

SBDCNET
UTSA Institute for Economic Development
University of Texas at San Antonio
501 W. Durango Blvd.
San Antonio, TX 78207
http://sbdcnet.org/
sbdcnet@utsa.edu
800.689.1912