Men’s Corner: The Art of Shaving Begins Retail Push

NEW YORK — The Art of Shaving is embarking on an aggressive freestanding store-opening plan while launching its most sophisticated treatment product to date, a night cream designed to remedy ingrown hairs.

Eric Malka, a cofounder of the $25 million firm, began outlining retail expansion plans around the time The Art of Shaving opened a shop in Time Warner Center here nearly two years ago.

Now, the company, which operates eight stores, plans to open its 50th unit by 2008.

Plans call for 10 openings next year to be followed by 21 more stores in 2007, at a rate of about two a month, and an additional 11 units in 2008.

The company has begun by opening three stores, in Los Angeles, Atlanta and at the Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, N.Y., this fall. Next year, the firm plans to open stores in confirmed locations like Denver, Dallas, Atlantic City, N.J., and San Francisco. Still in negotiations are leases for locations in Boston, Houston, Boca Raton, Fla., and San Antonio.

The company operates stores with and without barber services; the retail-only stores will account for about 70 percent of company-owned stores. About 65 percent of the firm’s revenues are generated by its wholesale business, a ratio Malka would like to see at about 50-50 by next year.

Thanks to the freestanding store strategy, Malka said he believes the business can be grown by 80 to 90 percent next year.

Meanwhile, Ingrown Hair Night Cream will be launched in late January and then rolled out to the brand’s full distribution network of 600 doors by March, including retailers like Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s.

“There are 10 million men in the U.S. that suffer from ingrown hairs,” said Malka. “They are frustrated that there are few to no solutions out there for them.”

The formulation employs meadowseed extract and white willow bark, which contains naturally occurring salicilin to help heal ingrown hairs. In order to soften and moisturize the skin, the product uses African shea butter and jojoba oil. The results of a clinical study indicate there was a 92.6 percent reduction in the appearance of ingrown hairs after six weeks of using the product. A 58.8 percent reduction was seen after two weeks.