Looking For A Flat-Screen, Shampoo Or Deodorant? Try The Guy Aisle

P & G headquarters. Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Now it’s easier to find what you need in several branches of the Texas store, H E B:

Hector Sorola has a list of groceries to get. First, he’s out of deodorant. A new Old Spice product that promises to be streak-free catches his eye.

As do the boxing match on the flat-screen TVs and the blue floor lighting that stretches along both sides of Aisle 13, a man cave filled with toiletries — and more — for the guy who equates being well groomed with confidence and success.

The new Men’s Zone at the H-E-B in Schertz contains 534 products, many touted to de-stress skin, anti-puff eyes, repair wrinkles, soothe scalps and keep guys smelling citrusy-fresh all day.

Many men, shopping baskets in hand, find what they want and leave. But others, pushing carts filled with produce, meat and paper towels, stop to talk sports while hanging out by TVs that broadcast soccer, car racing, basketball and, soon, the Winter Olympics. The only thing missing is the beer (that’s near Aisle 2) and a recliner (the Home and Garden aisle probably has something).

These men say they have the time to linger because they no longer need to search for their pretty-boy munitions among the arsenal of women’s roll-ons, speed sticks, moisturizers, hair sprays and shavers, which are spread across multiple lanes.

It’s no secret the male grooming ritual has undergone a radical transformation, especially among aging boomers and younger men. They support an industry that generates $4 billion annually in the U.S. and $43 billion globally. The latter has averaged an annual growth rate of 8 percent during the past five years, estimates consumer-goods maker Procter & Gamble.

H-E-B also has Men’s Zones in Boerne and San Antonio. The concept was pitched to the supermarket chain last year as the first of its kind, said Anne Westbrook, a P&G spokeswoman in Cincinnati, where the idea was developed.

“Men are likely to purchase a product if they see how it works and if it is prominent with messages such as here’s stuff for your morning routine, your afternoon routine and your going-out routine,” Westbrook said. “Guys like a little bit of direction.” (Five small-touch screens with grooming tips and product advice are positioned at eye-level throughout the aisle.)

P&G chose the San Antonio area to debut the concept because of its large Latino population, which spends more money on general grooming than other groups, said Lisa Harbert, of the company’s local office.

Harbert says since last month’s Men’s Zone debut in Schertz, overall sales have increased by 11 percent. Body-wash sales grew by 37 percent.