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Which are the biggest niche fragrance companies?

post #1 of 9
8/21/07 at 3:31pm
Thread Starter 
I'm getting bored of the mass produced stuffs and starting to dig into the niche stuffs...
Like stuffs from Neiman Marcus: Creed, L'Artisan, etc...
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post #2 of 9
8/21/07 at 3:39pm
Creed it is.
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post #3 of 9
8/21/07 at 4:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by breeze11 View Post

Creed it is.

Creed is not the biggest interms of size or clout. Their profit margins are amongst the highest, but sizewise, L'Artisan (which has started to expand more after being acquired by Fox Paine, a SF based private equity company), Serge Lutens (owned by japanese giant Shiseido), Floris, Penhaligons (owned by Cradle holdings), and a few others are bigger. Traditional classic houses like Guerlain and Chanel are even bigger..
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post #4 of 9
8/21/07 at 7:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zztopp View Post

Creed is not the biggest interms of size or clout. Their profit margins are amongst the highest, but sizewise, L'Artisan (which has started to expand more after being acquired by Fox Paine, a SF based private equity company), Serge Lutens (owned by japanese giant Shiseido), Floris, Penhaligons (owned by Cradle holdings), and a few others are bigger. Traditional classic houses like Guerlain and Chanel are even bigger..

I agree, but I don't think that Guerlain and Chanel are niche... well not anymore.
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post #5 of 9
11/16/07 at 5:44pm
Keeping in mind that once a company grows so big, it's no longer niche.........L'Artisan.
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post #6 of 9
11/16/07 at 6:11pm
I think of the "known" niche houses, Montale is the smallest. That is, so long as Montale is considered niche.
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post #7 of 9
11/29/07 at 3:02pm
What exactly does niche mean? Does it mean that they use all natural as opposed to synthetic ingrediants?
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post #8 of 9
11/29/07 at 3:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZANY View Post

What exactly does niche mean? Does it mean that they use all natural as opposed to synthetic ingrediants?

Not at all. They are less likely than mass-market companies to replace costly natural ingredients with cheaper synthetics, but that's not what defines them. The two most common ways of defining niche perfumeries are by their independence from other design markets (like fashion -- which rules out Chanel, Dior, YSL, and the like -- and jewelry -- which rules out Bulgari, Cartier, Tiffany, and so on) or by the exclusivity of their retail distribution (so fragrances you find at Macy's or The Body Shop don't count; that's the argument for ruling out Guerlain and others).

But I think we also handle these categories more impressionistically. Many around here are comfortable calling Creed a niche line, even though the Creed business got its start in fashion and is fairly widely distributed. Cost and quality are probably factors. (To be fair, Creed got out of menswear ages ago, and its distribution looks more narrow if you ignore all the internet discounters and just count its authorized retailers.) Many would not consider Caron a niche line, even though its distribution is (I'm guessing) relatively limited in the U.S.
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post #9 of 9
11/29/07 at 3:38pm
Thank you so much!
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