I seem to notice them everywhere these days.
And verified by google trends, they are certainly on the uptick: http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=beard%2C%20beards
Personally, I do it for convenience. It's nice having that extra 10 minutes every morning, and not possibly cutting my neck or face before I've had my first cup of coffee. That, and it looks badass. Almost every man throughout history I admire has had a beard, so why stop now?!
I bought a cheap Phillips $30 beard trimmer a few years ago (that's equivalent to about a month's worth of gillette razors for myself) and I have been loving my beard ever since.
Have you considered the international market? How big is Gillete there? Is this trend also present?
All it provides is an unsourced "American men are also doing less shaving, according to a Euromonitor Inc. analyst, as stubble and facial hair becomes more popular."
Most of the article is focused on _other_ reasons they are seeing declining sale, including competition. In fact, the only reliable source specifically says the low end market is growing while the high end market is shrinking, which doesn't lend itself at all to your fiction-as-fact opinion.