Parfums de Marly commissions store revamp, eyes China expansion

By

Sarah Ahssen

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Feb 16, 2022

From the coming spring, the boutiques of French niche perfumery brand Parfums de Marly will gradually undergo a make-over, adopting a new look devised by interior designer and retail specialist Hubert de Malherbe with his creative agency Malherbe Paris, notably the brains behind the beauty area of Parisian department store La Samaritaine.

Starting with the Dubai store, and followed by those in Paris, Riyadh, New York and a new opening in another European capital, the Parfums de Marly boutiques will feature a new interiors concept, stepping away from the luxury-Parisian-flat style of old, also the work of de Malherbe, to adopt a more pared-down design.
 
An interiors make-over that is taking place at a highly favourable time for the independent fragrance brand founded by Julien Sprecher in 2009. Parfums de Marly currently employs some 100 people and is distributed via about 1,000 stores worldwide, in addition to its own boutiques. It closed 2021 with a revenue of €177 million, well up from the €130 million generated a year earlier.

The brand's success is due to a number of factors. The first is the buoyancy of the niche perfumery segment in which Parfums de Marly operates. A segment whose annual growth rates range between 8% and 10%, and which accounts for nearly 15% of the global perfumery market. Its explosion is due also to the fact that consumers of the so-called prestige brands are now turning towards niche, ultra-luxe perfumes. 

“With Parfums de Marly, we grab market share from prestige women's brands. The niche market is keen to play the unisex card, and there are actually very few of us that thrive on a gendered approach to perfume,” said Julien Sausset, CEO of Parfums de Marly.

A strategy that seems to be working for Parfums de Marly. Its women’s fragrance franchise Delina alone, with its core note of Turkish rose, accounts for 40% of the brand's revenue.
 
Parfums de Marly’s success also hinges on the US market. In 2018, it accounted for 35% of the brand's revenue, a share that has now risen to 50%. “In the USA, our perfumes rank among the top five for department store sales, according to NDP data,” said Sausset.
 
But Parfums de Marly is now also looking to China, whose consumers, notably Gen Z ones, are increasingly interested in fragrances. Parfums de Marly entered the Chinese market a year and a half ago with its fragrances, priced at around €220, and now operates six department store concessions. It is the start of a new olfactory adventure.