Harry's

Harry's is an American company that manufactures and sells shaving equipment and men's personal care products via online and retail channels. The company is known for their subscription service where customers receive new razor blades, shaving cream, and other grooming products by mail. Harry's is based in New York.[2][3][4][5][6]

Harry's
IndustryConsumer packaged goods
FoundedJuly 2, 2012 (2012-07-02)[1]
Founders
  • Andy Katz-Mayfield
  • Jeff Raider
Headquarters
Area served
Websitewww.harrys.com

The company was founded in July 2012 by Andy Katz-Mayfield and Jeff Raider.[1] The company launched its subscription service in March 2013. In February 2014, Harry's acquired the German razor blade manufacturer Feintechnik for $100 million.[7] In May 2019, Edgewell Personal Care, the owner of the Schick brand of shaving products, announced it would purchase Harry's for $1.4 billion.[8][9] The merger was intended to finalise by the end of the first quarter of 2020.[9] In February 2020, the Federal Trade Commission sued Edgewell to block the merger, stating that bringing Schick and Harry's together could hurt competition.[10]

History

The company was founded in July 2012 by Andy Katz-Mayfield and Jeff Raider.[1] The subscription service launched in March 2013.[11] In January 2014, Harry's purchased the Feintechnik razor factory in Germany for a reported $100 million in an effort to provide control over the entire process of manufacturing their products.[7][12][13] In July 2015 the company received a third-round financing of US$75.6 million.[14][15]

In an interview published in July 2016, Katz-Mayfield said Harry's had two million customers.[16]

As of January 2017, Harry's shaving products are also available at Target stores.[17]

In late June 2017, Harry's started selling its products in the United Kingdom.[18]

In February 2018, Harry's raised $112 million in Series D funding co-led by Alliance Consumer Growth and Temasek co-led, with participation from Tao Capital Partners.[19]

In October 2018, Harry's launched Flamingo, a women's skin care brand.[20]

In May 2019, Edgewell Personal Care, the owner of the Schick brand of shaving products, announced plans to purchase Harry's for $1.4 billion.[8][9][21] The merger was intended to finalise by the end of the first quarter of 2020.[9] On February 3, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission sued Edgewell to block the merger, stating that bringing Schick and Harry's together could hurt competition[10] and Edgewell backed away from the deal.[22]

In March 2020, Harry's launched Cat Person as an independent startup out of the company's innovation group, Harry's Labs.[23] Cat Person is a lineup of cat care products including grain-free cat food (available as subscription or à la carte), toys, beds, and bowls.

Philanthropy

Similar to Warby Parker, which was also co-founded by Jeff Raider, Harry's began with a buy-one-donate-one business model, donating a free razor blade (or the cost of one[24]) to charitable organizations.[25] The program started in 2013 by supporting The Mission Continues to help veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan,[24] and it was called the "Give a Shave" program.[26] By the end of 2013, the "Give a Shave" program had changed slightly such that Harry's would donate 1% of their sales and the employees would donate 1% of their time to charitable organizations like City Year.[27][3] Currently, the donation model remains 1% of sales, and employees now receive five days of paid time off to volunteer with a registered non-profit organization.[28] Various charities have received this benefit, and Harry's has recently focused on promoting better mental health care for men and suicide prevention,[28] making news for working with organizations such as Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM),[29] HEADstrong Foundation,[30] and The Trevor Project.[31]

References
  1. "Harry's Inc". Bloomberg.
  2. Koblin, John (December 3, 2014). "Investors Bet Big on Harry's, the Warby Parker of Shaving". The New York Times.
  3. Cava, Marco della (June 10, 2014). "Change Agents: Harry's has shaving in a lather". USA Today.
  4. Caminiti, Susan (May 19, 2014). "Warby Parker co-founder takes on Gillette". CNBC.
  5. Empson, Rip (March 14, 2013). "Warby Parker Co-Founder Launches Harry's, Bringing The Startup's Buy-One-Donate-One Model To Shaving". TechCrunch.
  6. "Our Story". Harry's.
  7. Merced, Michael J. de la. "A Start-Up Run by Friends Takes On Shaving Giants". The New York Times.
  8. Merced, Michael J. de la (2019-05-09). "Shaving Start-Up Harry's Will Be Sold to Owner of Schick for $1.37 Billion". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  9. "Edgewell's deal to buy shaving startup Harry's sinks shares on debt concerns". Reuters. 2019-05-09. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  10. Olson, Alexandra (3 February 2020). "FTC sues to block Harry's sale to Schick owner Edgewell". ABC News. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  11. Feloni, Richard (17 December 2015). "The CEOs of shaving startup Harry's explain how they acquired a million customers in 2 years". Business Insider. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  12. Empson, Rip (January 22, 2014). "10-Month-Old Harry's Lands $122.5M, Buys 93-Year-Old Factory To Take On Shaving Heavyweights, Gillette And Schick". TechCrunch.
  13. Wirminghaus, Niklas (2014-01-23). "US-Startup kauft 93 Jahre alte Fabrik für 100 Millionen Dollar". Gründerszene Magazin (in German). Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  14. Merced, Michael J. de la (July 7, 2015). "Men's Shaving Start-Up Raises $75.6 Million". The New York Times.
  15. Kolodny, Lora (July 7, 2015). "Harry's Picks Up $75.6M at $750M Post-Money Valuation". The Wall Street Journal.
  16. Novellino, Teresa (20 July 2016). "Shaving startup Harry's sharpens it blades in razor wars". New York Business Journal. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  17. "Harry's is Coming to Target! The Shave Brand's Co-CEOs and Target's John Butcher Talk Shop". Target Corporate. August 10, 2016. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  18. Williams-Grut, Oscar (28 June 2017). "Hipster New York shaving brand Harry's is launching in the UK". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  19. Merced, Michael J. de la (2018-02-15). "Harry's Raises $112 Million to Move Beyond Shaving". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  20. King, Rachel (16 October 2018). "Harry's Labs Launches Flamingo, a New Brand Specifically for Women's Hair Care and Grooming". Fortune. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  21. Primach, Dan (9 May 2019). "Schick razors' maker expands empire after buying startup Harry's". Axios. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  22. Weinman, Aaron (February 11, 2020). "Edgewell's scuppered Harry's tie-up trims investors' yield hopes". Reuters.
  23. https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/24/backed-by-harrys-labs-cat-person-launches-its-lineup-of-cat-care-products/
  24. Karol, Gabrielle (May 23, 2013). "A High-Tech Razor Purchase Supporting Veterans". Fox Business.
  25. Campbell-Dollaghan, Kelsey (March 20, 2013). "Can The Warby Parker Model Reinvent Shaving, Too?". Fast Company.
  26. Poh, Jonathan (March 14, 2013). "We Give a Shave: An Interview with the Founders of Harry's". HYPEBEAST.
  27. Kasperkevic, Jana (15 December 2013). "Warby Parker and Harry's co-founder: 'I give a shave about the community'". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group.
  28. "Our Giving Goal". Harry's. Archived from the original on 2019-12-03. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  29. Barr, Sabrina (26 March 2018). "Harrowing sculptures appear on top of ITV buildings to raise awareness around male suicide". The Independent. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  30. Mahoney, Sarah (November 8, 2018). "For Veteran's Day, Harry's Extends Mental Health Conversation To PTSD". Marketing Daily. MediaPost Communications.
  31. Avery, Daniel (June 3, 2019). "These 50+ Brands are Celebrating Pride by Giving Back to the LGBT Community". Newsweek.

See also
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