Parfums de Marly Owner Open to Investors, Posts Strong Sales
PARIS — Parfums de Marly, the fragrance house nodding to 18th-century France, registered a 51 percent rise in retail sales in 2022 to $280 million.
Julien Sausset, chief executive officer of Parfums de Marly and Initio Parfums Privés, the two fragrance brands under Sprecher Berrier Group of Companies, said the growth was driven by some “new milestones in the U.S., Asia, and new boutiques opening.”
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Of Parfums de Marly, which is sold in 1,400 points of sale worldwide, Sausset said: “We’ve been the fastest-moving [niche perfume] brand in U.S. department stores in 2022, with 73 percent growth.”
The Americas’ business generated half of Parfums de Marly’s total sales and grew 50 percent versus 2021. The brand’s activity was also bolstered by the performance in Asia, where sales rose 60 percent.
Retail-wise, the perfume label’s Paris flagship on Rue Cambon is being moved to Rue Saint-Honoré, and the largest boutique for Parfums de Marly — a worldwide flagship of 1,940 square feet — is slated to open in Beverly Hills, in April, among other debuts. These will include a store in Shanghai by the end of the year.
A boutique was just signed in Sydney and a branded store opened in London’s Covent Garden last December.
Parfums de Marly recently came out with a four-year business plan, which should take the brand to nearly $300 million in sales by its fiscal year ending in March 2027.
“We have very big plans for the brand, still aiming at [overall niche] leadership with Marly,” Sausset said. “It’s a very intense moment for the brand at every level.”
Parfums de Marly is recruiting new employees and expects to open an office in Asia, probably in Hong Kong, by year-end.
“To sustain this growth, we have been talking to investors,” Sausset said. “But we have no pressure. We are looking for the right partner to accompany Julien’s vision.”
He was referring to Julien Sprecher, who plans to remain in charge of SBGC and the brands it runs, even if the group is backed by other investors.
“There is no emergency at all,” echoed Sprecher, regarding the search for funding for his group. “Our vision is to remain agile, having a short chain of command. We aim to become the first-[ranking] niche brand. Leadership is clearly in our target.”
In 2009, Sprecher started the Parfums de Marly label inspired by Louis XV, his passion for horses and the Marly castle dedicated to horses’ well-being. Sprecher serves as SBGC chairman and creative director, and conceives all of the group’s perfumes.
Parfums de Marly’s bestseller is Delina, a franchise launched in 2017 that’s been expanded with various scents, most recently one called Valaya.
Two months following its launch, that fragrance has become Parfums de Marly’s third topseller. In the U.K., Valya is now the brand’s number-one scent, generating 21 percent of Parfums de Marly’s sales in the country.
Parfums de Marly recently launched a campaign in China with an actor-influencer named Theo Zhu. That spot garnered 7 million views in its first two days, according to Sprecher.
“We are the worldwide leader of feminine niche fragrances,” the executive continued. “The brand equity and the brand awareness are the priority for us in the coming two to three years.”
Involved with this will be pop-ups and doubling investment on digital-media strategy.
Initio, a unisex brand, was launched in 2015, exclusive to Bergdorf Goodman in the U.S.
Initio’s first flagship was inaugurated on Paris’ Rue Saint-Honoré in May 2022, with a design conceived around the concept of a speakeasy. The brand is now sold in 900 doors and last year generated retail sale of $86 million.
“We’re looking for a boutique [for Initio] in London, in New York [and] doing things step-by-step,” Sausset said.
Initio this year launched a scent called Paragon, which was introduced in the U.S. exclusively at Neiman Marcus and is being rolled out elsewhere.
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