PRESTIGE FRAGRANCES GIVE STORES A SHOT AT BONUS SALES WEEK
Byline: Pete Born
NEW YORK — A rebound in the prestige fragrance business has given merchants reason to smile for once, particularly since there’s a chance of a retail bonanza at the
end of the holiday selling season.
For several years, the week between Christmas and New Year’s day has been evolving into an unofficial shopping week and national vacation for cash-rich families, giving the season a second wind. “It’s all about week five; it’s the clincher,” said Rita Mangan, senior vice president of cosmetics and fragrances for Federated Merchandising, the group buying arm of Federated Department Stores.
The fragrance and cosmetics business done that week has been growing at a double-digit rate, she noted, adding, “Now we have the Millennium.”
Stores have routinely been making special efforts after Christmas, but this year retailers are planning to push the envelope. Belk Department Stores of Charlotte, N.C., for instance, will merchandise special products, put up new visuals and plan in-store events, particularly makeup artistry. “We think the week is going to be event-driven,” said Jon Pollock, general merchandise manager of Belk’s. “Color is key. We’re doing holiday makeovers in every one of our stores.”
Saks Fifth Avenue in New York will underscore the growing potency of the week by staging a major fragrance launch, Vivienne Westwood’s Boudoir, which is produced by the Lancaster Group and distributed by Gary Farn. “It’s a full-blown launch,” said Deborah Walters, vice president and divisional merchandise manager of Saks. “It’s a very important week and our customers are looking for something new.”
Howard Koch, divisional merchandise manager of the Parisian, noted that customers are usually in stores with cash after having returned Christmas gifts. “The week after Christmas is a jugular week,” he said.
Compared to last year, when the fragrance business dragged up until the final explosive month, the trend seems robust. November was sluggish in the beginning but improved vastly in the final week. The burst came despite reports from a number of retailers of lackluster sales of blockbuster sets from Estee Lauder and others.
“The last week of the month was strong,” Federated’s Mangan said. Although she declined to cite numbers, it has been previously reported that both Federated’s men’s and women’s fragrance businesses have been gaining in the mid-single digits throughout the fall season. It appears that women’s pulled ahead of men’s in November.
In women’s scents, Clinique’s Happy, Ralph Lauren Romance and Donna Karan had the strongest forward trend, with Thierry Mugler’s Angel pulling ahead in limited distribution.
Other strong performers were Estee Lauder Pleasures and Beautiful, Tresor from Lancome, Tommy Hilfiger’s Tommy Girl, Chanel No. 5, Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds, Amarige from Parfums Givenchy and Calvin Klein’s Eternity.
On the men’s side of the aisle at Federated, top dollar generators in November included Tommy, Klein’s Eternity and Obsession for Men, Ralph Lauren’s Polo Sport and Romance for Men, Pleasures for Men, Acqua Di Gio for Men, Givenchy’s Pi, Lauren’s Polo and Aramis.
Judging from the lateness of the business in November, Mangan speculated that the Christmas crunch will come later than usual. Another indication is the fact that much of the fragrance purchasing in November was for self-consumption, rather than gift-giving.
Faced with steep comparisons from last year’s strong December, Federated appears to be shooting for December gains in the low single digits, according to estimates from industry sources.
Thanksgiving week also saved the month at Belk’s. “The last week was very, very good,” said Pollock. “We are encouraged. I feel bullish about the business.”
The women’s fragrance business is showing gains in the mid-single digits, while the men’s category is flat, Pollock said. He is shooting for December gains in the mid-to-high single digits for women’s and 4-6 percent for men’s.
Like Federated and other stores, Belk’s continues to stress its container program, which allows customers to create their own gift combinations.
As for the bestsellers at Belk’s, a watch gift-with-purchase promotion blew White Diamonds “off the charts,” Pollock said, and Romance “continues to be terrific” and Happy is “also terrific.” Lauder’s Beautiful is also good, as are all three Givenchy women’s fragrances plus Chanel’s No. 5 and Allure. Elizabeth Arden’s Green Tea fragrance is generating “nice increases.”
The huge Tommy Hilfiger franchise is experiencing some difficulty, mostly on the men’s side, Pollock indicated.
The women’s version of the new Freedom fragrance and Tommy Girl counted together are “netting out a nice increase,” Pollock noted. However, “Tommy and [the men’s] Freedom “are not performing up to expectation.”
Tommy remains Belk’s number one men’s fragrance. Other top sellers are Pleasures, which Pollock called “tremendous”, Curve for Men, Romance, Acqua Di Gio and Candies for Men.
At Nordstrom in Seattle, the tempo has picked up. “We’re rocking,” said Dale Crichton, vice president of cosmetics and gifts. The store has logged double-digit increases and is looking forward to Christmas. “We’re encouraged,” Crichton said, acknowledging that the women’s fragrance business has made a remarkable turnaround this year. “There are some great fragrances out there,” she said. “We’ve done a lot of training. The customers have a lot of money and they are spending it.”
At Saks, the business has surged ahead of plan for November and the season, Walters noted, citing Yves Saint Laurent’s Baby Doll, Gucci Rush, Faberge’s Princess Grace Collection, Lalique’s Le Baiser, Jean Patou’s Forever and Annick Goutal’s Ce Soir Ou Jamais. Among the classics, the strong sellers are every Chanel fragrance, the Annick Goutal range, the Bulgari fragrances, Angel, Boucheron, classic Dolce & Gabanna and the Parfums Isabell fragrances.
In the men’s category, Jil Sander for Men has been selling strongly.
Burdines in Miami also is seeing its women’s fragrance bar making a resurgence with gains in the mid-single digits for the season, according to Stacy DeMeo, vice president and divisional merchandise manager, who added that the men’s business is having a tougher time but still making plan. “We are very optimistic for Christmas,” she said.
Koch at the Parisian said, “we had a significant double-digit increase” for the three days after Thanksgiving. Both men’s and women’s scored in the double digits for November. He said the Parisian’s business is driven by a combination of classics and newness.
At Jacobson Stores Inc. in Jacksonville, Mich., the total cosmetics and fragrance division was up 14 percent for Thanksgiving, well ahead of the 10 percent target. Fragrances were up a combined 4 percent for the week. For the first three days of December the total department is up 16 percent with fragrances ahead 5 percent, according to Laurence Williams, divisional merchandise manager. Last year, Jacobson’s posted an 8 percent December increase in fragrances, “and we plan on beating that,” he said. “I feel good that we are going to do it.”
In the duty-free stores of DFS Group Ltd., the fragrance business has been growing ahead of plan, sparked by the launch of Christian Dior’s J’adore and the strengthening of the Japanese yen. Happy for Men, both Freedom fragrances, Romance, men’s Allure and the Bulgari fragrances have been “exceptionally strong,” according to Barbara Zinn Moore, senior vice president and general merchandise manager of cosmetics and fragrances.
Also doing well are Allure, Chanel No. 5, Happy, Rush, Anna Sui, Pi, Baby Doll and Green Tea.