Unique Concepts Summer 2008

Custom Perfumes Fill The Scent Bar

By Claude Solnick
For author bio, please check out our Author's Page by clicking on their name.

After a few hours browsing and buying at The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, TX, shoppers can take a break at the bar for some unconventional cocktails. But instead of ordering gin and tonics, the barflies here might want a splash of vanilla with a dash of eucalyptus, or a bit of sandalwood topped with a dash of musk.

Complete with bar stools and a glass-and-chrome bar counter, The Scent Bar offers its customers more than 50 perfume oils they can blend to create an endless variety of custom perfumes and bath-and-body products. Shoppers can relax at the blending bar, mixing drops of fragrances from vials to their own signature scent while chatting with friends, or pick up a few pre-mixed products ready for off-the-shelf sales. The store stands out in the mall not only because of its unique product line, but also because it looks like an art gallery, perfumery and upscale bar all rolled up into one. "Our presentation is rather unique," says Anthony Partow, who with his wife, Elena, owns the store. "It doesn't look like a traditional store." The Partows opened The Scent Bar last holiday season to test the concept. They wanted customers to "feel a little bit like a celebrity," creating their own perfume, Elana says. Anthony adds that: "You walk into most stores and you see the standard configuration, shelves of product that are standard. There's no way for customers to exercise their individuality." At The Scent Bar, it's all about individuality.

Because the concept is relatively unusual, a short-term lease was crucial for launch. "We didn't want to get committed too long initially," Anthony says. "We could have done it without that type of [short-term] lease, but we wouldn't have."

"There's not one [scent] that I can say is the most popular," because customer tastes are "so individual," Anthony says. Some customers are drawn to fig, pomegranate, orange or lemon scents, while others prefer floral such as tea rose, jasmine, ylang ylang, sandalwood or eucalyptus.

The Partows are enjoying the attention their new store has been getting lately from shoppers and the local media, but even more than that they're enjoying the day-to-day specialty retail experience. "We wanted to create a business we'd look forward to going to every day," says Anthony. "Something interesting, a little different—and to make a profit."

Now that the store is building a healthy repeat-customer base, the Partows hope their new concept could be the recipe for more stores to follow going forward. When it comes to blending a signature perfume or succeeding in specialty retail, Anthony says, "The only limit is your imagination."

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