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Macy's: Mixing It Up at the Fragrance Counters

post #1 of 10
10/26/08 at 8:23pm
Thread Starter 
I noticed at Macy's today that they now have a tray of men's fragrances on one of the counters in the women's fragrance department. This tray displayed about 20 bottles, including Le Mâle, Antidote, John Varvatos, Polo, Tommy Bahama, and several other 'pour homme' fragrances. They had a similar tray of popular women's fragrances on display in the men's department, which is on the opposite side of the store. Do other department stores do this? It's the first time I've seen it around here. Would you say they're intentionally blurring some gender-marketing lines, or simply anticipating the Christmas shoppers who will be picking something out for their significant others? They didn't have these trays out before Christmas last fall.

(Next time, I'll see if a Macy's SA has an answer for my perfume placement question.)
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post #2 of 10
10/26/08 at 9:22pm
Interesting question, tang. My suspicion is that your thought of it being a Christmas-shopping-related move is correct.
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post #3 of 10
10/26/08 at 10:00pm
At my closest Macy's, there has been a tray of many of those same men's scents in the women's department for a long time. The men's department is upstairs, and I don't recall ever seeing women's fragrances there.

When Fahrenheit 32 first came out, I noticed it at the Dior counter in cosmetics. Could've been around the Holidays; I remember the weather was cool. I sprayed it on and was so impressed by this bold floriental. I couldn't stop smelling myself all day. A couple of weeks later I returned, but didn't see the tester or the promotional tray or anything. The SA looked confused for a minute when I asked, then told me it was upstairs. I had no idea it was a men's fragrance.
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post #4 of 10
10/26/08 at 10:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by an_oud_girl View Post

When Fahrenheit 32 first came out, I noticed it at the Dior counter in cosmetics. Could've been around the Holidays; I remember the weather was cool. I sprayed it on and was so impressed by this bold floriental. I couldn't stop smelling myself all day. A couple of weeks later I returned, but didn't see the tester or the promotional tray or anything. The SA looked confused for a minute when I asked, then told me it was upstairs. I had no idea it was a men's fragrance.

Fahrenheit 32 is amazing, and I'm really shocked I haven't bought a bottle yet. I think it's probably the best men's fragrance to come out of the house of Dior. (Eau Sauvage would be a close second.)

I'd be curious to know whether the presence of men's fragrances at the women's counter is an attempt at cross pollination or a pre-holiday sales strategy. I suspect it is the latter. Women are probably much more likely to buy a new fragrance for their men than the other way around. If there were a strong inclination to cross pollinate, we'd be seeing this sort of phenomenon all year long.
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post #5 of 10
10/26/08 at 11:32pm
I've seen Prada Amber in both the men's and women's sections at the closest Macys for as long as I can recall.
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post #6 of 10
10/27/08 at 6:03am
At the Macy's here, they've sold Angel Men in the women's department (on the second level) in addition to the men's counter (on the first floor) for eons.

They haven't placed the others out on a tray yet, though...
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post #7 of 10
10/27/08 at 6:45am
I know that many stores do this.....the reps should be doing this when they are in the stores that's for sure.....Gary
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post #8 of 10
10/27/08 at 7:24am
The tray of women's fragrances in the men's department I feel pretty sure is a Christmas shopping thing. More women tend to veer into men's fragrance territory than the other way around (not counting Basenoters, of course).
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post #9 of 10
10/27/08 at 7:40pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Astaroth View Post

cross pollination or a pre-holiday sales strategy....

Cross-pollination -- that's the word I was looking for last night.

Thank you for your responses, everyone. Whatever their reasoning, it makes sense to maximize the exposure of some fragrances in both departments. I just hadn't seen it done here before.
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post #10 of 10
10/29/08 at 6:44am
I've noticed this elsewhere, but at my Macy's this practice seems lackadaisical and not a deliberate attempt at pushing a unisex agenda. Of course I have the saddest Macy's here, with its cheaply edited selection of merchandise and woebegone sale racks. The prestige placement is given to the whistlestop fragrances, that number of celeb scents that get barfed up with some regularity.
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