The Demise of the Three T’s?

I did some number crunching today and was very surprised with the figures when I compared year to date sales of Taylor of Old Bond Street, Truefitt & Hill and Geo F Trumper compared to previous years.
These three English based brands have been around for 100s of years, collectively they are commonly known as the Three T’s. What has happened to these world famous brands?

Geo F Trumper sales are only marginally down on exec.weboven.online but sales on our Amazon shopfront have increased by around 5% so this brand is pretty much breaking even whereas sales for Taylor and Truefitt have fallen off the cliff.
Geo F Trumper offers an excellent range of high-quality colognes, shower gels and skin foods, sales for these products have stood up well.

I reckon men have either grown bored with Taylor, Truefitt and Trumper or they have woken up to the fact that there may be better quality products that are often cheaper than what Taylor and Truefitt, in particular, are offering. For example, in the same period, our sales of Extro Cosmesi and Saponificio Varesino are up over 120% this year compared to the same period last year while sales for The Executive Shaving Company shaving creams, pre-shaves and aftershave balms are an astonishing 132% up on last year.

The Italian Invasion

Extro Cosmesi and Saponificio Varesino are Italian brands that offer highly interesting scents that are a million miles away from the old fashioned sandalwood, limes and lavender favoured by Taylor and Truefitt. Instead, they offer Felce (Fern), Arzachena, Barocco, Del Don, FraRink, Freddo (cold), Miele (honey) and Tabacco. Names that make you want to buy just to find out what they smell like. Moreover, Extro Cosmesi shaving soaps benefit from ingredients such as Shea Butter, Royal Jelly and Calendula Oil that heal, moisturise, regenerate, nourish and protect the skin while you shave. Extro Cosmesi soaps are actually a cross between a soap and a cream, they have the consistency of putty. To make life easy, all Extro Cosmesi shaving soaps come with a matching aftershave/EDT splash. On exec.weboven.online buy both together as a set and save money.
A good example is Extro Cosmesi Felce Shaving Soap and matching Aftershave Splash which is only £25.50.

Saponificio Varesino is another Italian brand that is selling really well, their soaps are triple milled and hard, a puck of their soap is good for at least 6 months daily use. Like Extro Cosmesi, they feature highly unusual scents such as Stella Alpina, Opuntia, Manna di Sicilia, Cubebe and Dolomiti and more, each comes with a matching aftershave splash and face and body soap.
What distinguishes these two Italian brands from the English brands seems to be better quality, better value for money and a touch of the exotic.

Our own brand has shown the most growth and we’re eternally grateful for the support and loyalty of our customers. Natural Shaving Cream was always our top selling cream but, for the first time, in May 2019, Citrus Kissknocked it off its perch while Fuar Ach Snog(Scottish for cold but nice) is catching up fast. Bay Rum is popular in autumn and winter in particular. I can tell you that these shaving creams and matching aftershave balms have very high repeat sales which indicate high customer satisfaction.

Where do the Three T’s go from here? I suggest they add products that are far more interesting than their current offerings and introduce ingredients that add value to the shave experience as Extro Cosmesi has done.
There is a place in the market for the London based, traditional, olde shoppe type retailers but it may be a shrinking market …
(all views expressed in this post are my own).

Written by Brian Mulreany
Sales Director
The Executive Shaving Company
26 June 2019.