Celebrity brands help to drive sales at The Fragrance Shop
Perfume retailer The Fragrance Shop has seen a 23% rise in annual sales helped by growth in celebrity-branded perfume ranges and the male grooming market.
The retailer’s sales grew to £70.4 million in the year to 31 March while underlying profits increased by 24% to £9.3 million.
The Fragrance Shop, which is UK’s largest independently-owned perfume retailer, operates 135 stores across the UK. The company opened 22 new stores in the year and plans to open a further 100 outlets during the next five years, creating around 500 jobs.
The retailer said its best selling products included new product launches from Jimmy Choo and Diesel. It also saw a big rise in sales to younger customers who bought celebrity-branded fragrances such as Justin Bieber’s Someday as well as Dazzle and Be Reem from reality TV show The Only Way is Essex.
Sales of men’s fragrances grew at their fastest ever rate making up 40% of the company’s sales. The top three selling men’s brands were Hugo Boss Signature, Paco Rabanne’s 1 Million and Escape by Calvin Klein.
The two top selling female perfumes were Dolce & Gabbana’s Light Blue and L’Imperatrice.
Sanjay Vadera, chief executive of The Fragrance Shop, said: “With a strong financial position as a debt-free, cash-generative business, we have the perfect opportunity to expand our UK presence over the next five years.”
Managing director Nigel Lawmon added: “The fragrance market has been gathering enormous momentum over the last two years, with the UK now the world’s fastest-growing market and catching up with its continental neighbours such as France. Key customer groups, such as young adults and men, are coming to the category in unprecedented numbers, driven by the explosive growth of celebrity brands and the expansion of the wider male grooming and beauty market.”
The Fragrance Shop was founded in 1995 and now employs 700 people.
