Happy Mother’s Day to all you wonderful Posse folks! Speaking of, I got kind of a nice little early Mother’s Day present last week. Imagine my utter delight and surprise when on a trip to Atlanta, I saw the familiar colors and logos of the Frederic Malle line in Neiman Marcus. Well, hallelujah, and it’s about time!!
Neiman’s has offered this line online for several years now, but not carried it in many of its brick-and-mortar doors so folks could actually sniff the fragrances for themselves. And it’s too expensive a line to just go blind buying it (which is where fragrance decant services like Surrender to Chance are a godsend).
The entire Frederic Malle product line wasn’t there but it was represented pretty substantially, with all the heavy hitters present. An additional treat: One of the SAs was burning the Joyeux Noel candle, which was lovely, as I’d never experienced it before. Someone there was telling me that the Neiman’s in Atlanta was one of just a few to actually carry the line in-store, for which I was extremely grateful. I guess a wider distribution is at least one good thing to come out of the Lauder buyout of the line.
The Southeast region of the U.S. has often tended to be underserved when it comes to certain niche fragrances available for live sniffing, as there is no Barney’s New York store between Chicago and South Florida, and Frederic Malle boutiques are even harder to come by. Although I’m happy to report that things are changing, especially at Neiman’s, which over the past few years has gotten in lines such as Byredo, YSL’s expanded perfume line and Roja Dove (which Saks now has online as well). Fragrance lovers in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, the Carolinas and northern Florida now have a better opportunity to experience these great scents.
What perfume line do you wish a store near you would start carrying?
Sadly the Neiman’s near me is pulling the FM line. The SA said it just doesn’t sell well. She said they sell Portrait of a Lady the most but rarely does someone buy a second bottle of the scent, so it’s not worth it for them to carry it.
I am only close to useless shopping so I live my life online, my shopping life, anyway. We used to get to Chicago regularly as it’s just a couple hours drive but for many reasons we haven’t been for years. I think that’s why I’m so into indies right now, I can get samples directly from the websites and the ones I enjoy the most offer smaller bottles.
Ooooh, lucky! Or not, because dangerous? But I’d love to be able to sniff the FM & Roja Dove lines — and also maybe Arquiste?
congratulations! And mine would be Amouage. They used to be at Nordstrom Michigan Avenue, back when they still had that gorgeous blue perfume salon. Alas, they did not have testers. Or maybe ‘yay! they did not have testers’ because that would’ve emptied my wallet in a heartbeat!
Well, since I’m in Europe I’d love to see some American and Australian perfumers in the stores near me, for example Antonia’s Flowers, Charenton Macerations, Dame Perfumery, Olympic Orchids…
Luckily Sydney has quite a bit of niche but I’m still importing my Neela Vermeire Creations or buying them while overseas. It would be wonderful to have Parfums de Nicolai or any of the Pierre Guillaumes here too.
Portia xx
I’m with you. I wish I didn’t have to go all the way to Barney’s in New York (which I have not been to yet) to experience the Frederic Malle line. I live in New Jersey, and due to some orthopedic issues, trekking into New York is out of the question for me now. I’m not sure if there is a store in Philadelphia ( which is a short trip over the bridge) that carries Malle perfumes, but that may be something I should look into. For now, my best option is STC.
Cyndi, I also live in South Jersey and have never seen the Frederic Malle line in Philly or King of Prussia. I get to Barney’s on occasion but still feel that STC is the best bet, especially because I like to evaluate at my own pace. Enjoy your Malle project!