Harry's

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Harry's
IndustryConsumer packaged goods
FoundedJuly 2, 2012; 11 years ago (2012-07-02)[1]
Founders
  • Andy Katz-Mayfield
  • Jeff Raider
Headquarters
Area served
Number of employees
900+[2]
Websitewww.harrys.com Edit this at Wikidata

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.[3][4][5][6][7]

The company was founded in July 2012 by Andy Katz-Mayfield and Jeff Raider.[1] The company launched its subscription service in 2013.[8] In 2014, Harry's purchased the Feintechnik razor factory in Germany.[9] In May 2019, Edgewell Personal Care announced it would purchase Harry's.[10][11] In February 2020, the Federal Trade Commission sued Edgewell to block the merger, stating that the merger could hurt competition.[12]

History[edit]

The company was founded in July 2012 by Andy Katz-Mayfield and Jeff Raider, who met at Bain & Co.[1] The company launched its direct-to-consumer subscription service in March 2013.[8] In January 2014, Harry's acquired the German razor blade manufacturer Feintechnik for $100 million,[13][9] in an effort to provide control over the entire process of manufacturing their products.[14][15]

In July 2015 the company received a third-round financing of US$75.6 million.[16][17]

In an interview published in July 2016, Katz-Mayfield said Harry's had two million customers.[18]

By January 2017, Harry's shaving products were also available at Target and Walmart stores.[19]

In late June 2017, Harry's started selling its products in the United Kingdom.[20]

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.[21]

In October 2018, Harry's launched Flamingo, a women's skin care brand.[22]

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.[10][11][23] The merger was intended to finalise by the end of the first quarter of 2020.[11] 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[12] and Edgewell backed away from the deal.[24]

In March 2020, Harry's launched Cat Person as an independent startup out of the company's innovation group, Harry's Labs.[25] Cat Person sells a lineup of cat care products.

In March 2021 Forbes reported that Harry's had raised a Series E round at a $1.7 billion valuation.[26]

In December 2021 Harry's announced it would acquire deodorant brand Lumē for an undisclosed price.[27] By 2023 the product line generated $300 million out of a total $750 million in annual revenue for the company.[28]

In March 2024 Reuters reported that Harry's had filed to go public in an IPO.[29]

Manufacturing[edit]

Harry's razor blades are manufactured at Feintechnik GmbH Eisfeld in Eisfeld, Germany.[9] Feintechnik was founded in 1920,[30] and was later nationalised in 1948 as VEB Feintechnik Eisfeld,[31][32] which later privatized by German government agency Treuhand in 1990.[32] Feintechnik was acquired by Harry's in January 2014 for $100 million.[13][30] The handles of the Harry's razors are manufactured in China.[33]

Business model[edit]

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[34]) to charitable organizations.[35] The program started in 2013 by supporting The Mission Continues to help veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan,[34] and it was called the "Give a Shave" program.[36] 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.[37][4] 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.[38] Various charities have received this benefit, and Harry's has recently focused on promoting better mental health care for men and suicide prevention,[38] making news for working with organizations such as Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM),[39] HEADstrong Foundation,[40] and The Trevor Project.[41]

See also[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harry's.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Harry's Inc". Bloomberg.
  2. ^ "Exclusive: Harry's Raises A $155 Million Series E At $1.7 Billion, A Year After The FTC Blocked Its Billion-Dollar Sale To Edgewell".
  3. ^ Koblin, John (December 3, 2014). "Investors Bet Big on Harry's, the Warby Parker of Shaving". The New York Times.
  4. ^ a b Cava, Marco della (June 10, 2014). "Change Agents: Harry's has shaving in a lather". USA Today.
  5. ^ Caminiti, Susan (May 19, 2014). "Warby Parker co-founder takes on Gillette". CNBC.
  6. ^ Empson, Rip (March 14, 2013). "Warby Parker Co-Founder Launches Harry's, Bringing The Startup's Buy-One-Donate-One Model To Shaving". TechCrunch.
  7. ^ "Our Story". Harry's.
  8. ^ a b 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.
  9. ^ a b c Michael J. de la Merced (21 January 2014). "A Start-Up Run by Friends Takes On Shaving Giants". The New York Times.
  10. ^ a b 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.
  11. ^ a b c "Edgewell's deal to buy shaving startup Harry's sinks shares on debt concerns". Reuters. 2019-05-09. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  12. ^ a b Olson, Alexandra (3 February 2020). "FTC sues to block Harry's sale to Schick owner Edgewell". ABC News. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  13. ^ a b Wirminghaus, Niklas (2014-01-23). "US-Startup kauft 93 Jahre alte Fabrik in Thüringen – für 100 Millionen Dollar". Business Insider (in German). Retrieved 2022-01-29.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ Wirminghaus, Niklas (2014-01-23). "US-Startup kauft 93 Jahre alte Fabrik für 100 Millionen Dollar". Gründerszene Magazin (in German). Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  16. ^ Merced, Michael J. de la (July 7, 2015). "Men's Shaving Start-Up Raises $75.6 Million". The New York Times.
  17. ^ Kolodny, Lora (July 7, 2015). "Harry's Picks Up $75.6M at $750M Post-Money Valuation". The Wall Street Journal.
  18. ^ Novellino, Teresa (20 July 2016). "Shaving startup Harry's sharpens it blades in razor wars". New York Business Journal. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  19. ^ "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.
  20. ^ Williams-Grut, Oscar (28 June 2017). "Hipster New York shaving brand Harry's is launching in the UK". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ 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.
  23. ^ Primach, Dan (9 May 2019). "Schick razors' maker expands empire after buying startup Harry's". Axios. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  24. ^ Weinman, Aaron (February 11, 2020). "Edgewell's scuppered Harry's tie-up trims investors' yield hopes". Reuters.
  25. ^ "Backed by Harry's Labs, Cat Person launches its lineup of cat care products". 24 March 2020.
  26. ^ Bertoni, Steven. "Exclusive: Harry's Raises A $155 Million Series E At $1.7 Billion, A Year After The FTC Blocked Its Billion-Dollar Sale To Edgewell". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  27. ^ Hall, Christine (2021-12-13). "Brand incubator Harry's Labs makes acquisition of D2C deodorant brand Lumē". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  28. ^ Chin, Kimberly (Dec 8, 2023). "Harry's building CPG powerhouse with buys".
  29. ^ Summerville, Abigail; Wang, Echo. "Razor maker Harry's files for IPO, sources say". Reuters.
  30. ^ a b "Harrys Acquires Feintechnik GmbH Eisfeld | William Blair". www.williamblair.com. 2014-01-30. Archived from the original on 2021-10-03. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  31. ^ "Nassrasierer-Fabrikant Feintechnik GmbH - Thüringens scharfe Seite" (in German).
  32. ^ a b RP ONLINE (2015-11-07). "Radevormwald: Auf der Rasierklinge - Film über die Geschichte von Hanns Neumaier" (in German).
  33. ^ "Twitter "handles are made in China"".
  34. ^ a b Karol, Gabrielle (May 23, 2013). "A High-Tech Razor Purchase Supporting Veterans". Fox Business.
  35. ^ Campbell-Dollaghan, Kelsey (March 20, 2013). "Can The Warby Parker Model Reinvent Shaving, Too?". Fast Company.
  36. ^ Poh, Jonathan (March 14, 2013). "We Give a Shave: An Interview with the Founders of Harry's". HYPEBEAST.
  37. ^ Kasperkevic, Jana (15 December 2013). "Warby Parker and Harry's co-founder: 'I give a shave about the community'". The Guardian.
  38. ^ a b "Our Giving Goal". Harry's. Archived from the original on 2019-12-03. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  39. ^ Barr, Sabrina (26 March 2018). "Harrowing sculptures appear on top of ITV buildings to raise awareness around male suicide". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-09. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  40. ^ Mahoney, Sarah (November 8, 2018). "For Veteran's Day, Harry's Extends Mental Health Conversation To PTSD". Marketing Daily. MediaPost Communications.
  41. ^ Avery, Daniel (June 3, 2019). "These 50+ Brands are Celebrating Pride by Giving Back to the LGBT Community". Newsweek.

External links[edit]


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