When last RetailWire covered the Men's Zone in February 2010, we discovered that a test of the guys-only grooming product aisle at H-E-B (brought to the retailer by Procter & Gamble) had grown total sales for the 534 personal care items located on its shelves and hooks by 11 percent.
A poll connected with the story found that 33 percent of respondents thought male grooming products had a very big upside from then current levels. Sixty-four percent rated the upside potential as moderate (39 percent) to small (25 percent).
Since the H-E-B pilot went so well, P&G has been taking the concept to other retailers to test.
"It wasn't rocket science,' Thom Lachman, P&G's general manager of male grooming, told The Boston Globe. "Men are buyers and not shoppers. They want to get the shopping done. And it benefits both men and women. Neither one likes to shop for personal grooming items with the other one right on top of them."
H-E-B and retailers including Duane Reade and Target are hoping the Men's Zone or similar concepts will help them grab a bigger share of the male grooming market, which grew 21 percent between 2005 and 2010.
Duane Reade, according to the Globe article, has independently of P&G created its own Men's Zone and plans to roll out the grooming sections to most of its 250 stores. There was no mention in the article if parent company Walgreens planned to run with the concept.