Walgreens does carry Gem SE blades. For some reason though the CVS SE blades were alot like shaving with a broken beer bottle. SE razors are very agressive and definitely take some getting used to. The Micromatic (top heavy, open comb and really aggressive) is a love it or hate it proposition as are the newer Featherweight (a bit too light and mild for my tastes). I've always found the 1912's to be a good consistent shave but the big dog on the block is my 1910 Gem Lather Catcher. This thing is on par with any straight razor I've ever used. I can count on a great shave every time I touch this thing. There was a time when these razors were all go to (used them most days) and only occasionally handled a DE. Then I started shaving with straights and that all changed. Safety razors of both types became a once in a blue moon thing. These days, time constraints force me to reach more and more for safety razors but I must confess that I don't often reach for my old SE buddies, not sure why. I suspect it has something to do with this new Merkur 37C