The high-tech Sensor razor came face to face with five million new faces in January, making the razor an early success, Gillette Co. says.
Consumers have already plucked many stores clean of Sensors, and some retailers say they can't keep the shavers and blade cartridges in stock.
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Consumers of '90s look for value
Oct. 12, 1990
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When consumers went shopping during the hard times of the 1970s, they traded down. Thanks to the prosperity of the 1980s, they reversed course and started trading up.
Now, as the 1990s start out looking very much like the '70s, will consumers begin trading down again? You can bet a can of no-brand beer that it isn't very likely - at least not as far down as they did 20 years ago.
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Retailers post a weak finale for Christmas
Dec. 24. 1990
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The final weekend before Christmas was busy for retailers - but not busy enough to make for a happy ending to a weak holiday season. And analysts say the final day of shopping today won't bring any Yuletide surprises.
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Bargain hunters' bonanza; Addiction to cost cutting feeds slump
June 5, 1991
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Hardly anybody can sell anything without cutting the price these days.
You name it, it's on sale: clothing, computers, cars, couches, cheeseburgers. If it's not on sale, it collects dust or shrivels under fast-food heat lamps. Go into any mall and it will look like Southdale in Edina, Minn., outside Minneapolis. "Sale" signs scream from two out of three stores - from J.C. Penney to Ann Taylor to Fanny Farmer candies.
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Disney switches to Burger King
Aug. 12, 1991
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Mickey is jumping burger chains.
Walt Disney Co., a longtime promotional partner with McDonald's, is about to switch to Burger King, says Advertising Age. The alliance will start with a promotion in November tied to Disney's release of the new animated film "Beauty and the Beast."
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Air bags lag demand of buyers
Sept. 10, 1991
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Despite their popularity with the public, air bags aren't popping up quickly as standard equipment on automobiles.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says driver's-side air bags are standard equipment on 126 of 211 models of 1992 cars and minivans on the market this fall.
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Flaky fashions, sick sales; Women say new styles are ridiculous
Sept. 26, 1991
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Been shopping for clothes lately? Bought anything?
Most working women undoubtedly would say yes to the first. And probably no way to the second.
Is it just an illusion, or do the clothes hanging on store racks this fall look like some kind of joke? Neo-Pucci leggings and '60s swing tops in electric pinks and oranges?
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Condoms ads in spotlight; Marketing has makers, TV in quandry
Dec. 4, 1991
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Condom ads are making their way to television. Slowly.
Television networks, wary of offending viewers, are quick to reject the ads. Condom manufacturers, used to advertising in men's magazines, are wary about spending big bucks on television. And ad agencies are trying to figure out how to create commercials that offend no one yet get information across.
Last-minute shoppers brought little Christmas cheer to retailers. Crowds turned out for the final weekend of the holiday season, but spending remained weak.
Retailers expect an anemic 2% to 3% gain for the season, says Jack Schultz, president of the National Retail Federation. With inflation running about 2%, that translates to flat revenue for the industry.
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Marketers try to grow with boomers
Feb. 3, 1992
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After Charles "Mike" Harper suffered a heart attack in 1985, his doctor had him switch to low-fat, low-sodium, low-cholesterol foods.
Harper couldn't find much to choose from at the supermarket. Frustrated, the chairman of food processor ConAgra Inc. decided his company could develop something better. It did. ConAgra's Healthy Choice frozen foods - one of the first frozen lines to provide dietary and nutritional data - has become one of the packaged-food industry's biggest successes. In its fourth year, annual revenue for the 100-product line could hit $600 million.
