The Smell of Success Pushes One for More Success

The groundbreaking reach and the successful acceptance of French Fragrances began in Georgia in the 90s. For Pkhakadze, his business kicked off with the patronage of friends and after realizing how much the products interested people, he passionately launched into a full-fledged business and he has since achieved tremendous success as reward for his hard work. Vakhtang Pkhakadze talks about his relations with France in this interview with Diplomat magazine. He talked about the History of Succession of the President of the “Lutecia Group” even as he commended France for playing a decisive development role in his business.

“My business started in France. We were one of the first set of Georgians to set foot to France. We contemplated different ventures but the most exciting one for us was perfumery because the French fragrance was at that time, the most valuable fragrance in the Post Soviet space. My relations with France is crested upon a deliberate attempt by my friends and I, because we decided to deepen our relationships with the country in this direction during the 90s. In 1995, we arrived in France and we started to go from one office to another (door to door), proving that we were the best. Around 1996-1997, the first brand that we brought to Georgia was Yves Rocher, and even before I started this business in Russia, I offered to open the store in Georgia - it was a celebration for me.”

You said that you were always trying to prove that you had an advantage over the difficulties. What was that advantage that played the most decisive role for your success?

We were more or less educated intellectuals. We were teachers - I was a mathematician, my friend a Physicist. We were well equipped with the logic. It took years for us to show what we could do - and when we built the first store someone decided to trust us, somebody decided not to. My French friends played a big role. One was a representative of “Salvador Dali”, the second a representative of “Clarins”. They gave us the right of distribution for Russia and Georgia. This was followed by other brands and when we created a portfolio, it was easy to explain what we were doing. When we wanted to get “Nina Ricci” for distribution, my friend tried to prevent me from proving what we could do as he felt that we did not want this brand because it was old and nobody was interested in it, but I did anyway. We started to work on it and today we are distributors of one of the best brands, together with 250 other brands.

How was the dynamics of development then and how much is it increasing now?

From 1997 to 2007, we had very slow dynamics, and before 2004, it was a difficult situation. Then, some impetus was given to the country - in 2001, we opened the first big store. It was a risky step. Generally, the advantage of business is that if you are a hard working person, and if you love your job at the same time, you will do faster than the others and with that, you will have guaranteed success.

Did this success give the impetus to deepen these business relationships and even carry on a new brand?

Of course. This is the smell of success and when you smell the scent, it is very difficult to keep calm. It is a great pleasure for me when I see the customer satisfied - when the user visits and asks about a particular brand – “Oh, do you have this brand? We were trying to get it from different countries,” these reactions spring up pleasant emotions within me always.

Do you think that the business relations between France and Georgia need to be further developed? What is needed to get the two countries more closer?

Today, a very good relationship with Europe simplifies the acquisition of products. I have had business in other countries and compared to 2004, we currently have the best legislation for business management in Georgia. Between 2014 and 2016, the agreements were reached to simplify the delivery of goods from Europe. If you import goods that are produced in Europe, all those many barriers are no longer existing, you do not have excess taxes and it is generally easier to do business once you are determined and ready to work hard. The Georgian government and the countries we have active relationships with must continue to be eager for economic development.

What about the relatively new and different directions of tea business?

Palais des Thés is a French tea brand founded in 1987 in Paris. Today, this brand produces more than 200 kinds of teas and various tea related accessories. It was the idea of Yves Roche’s Vice President to bring tea to Georgia because we enjoy tea as much as we enjoy wine in this country so, I agreed to this offer. Now, we are looking for a good tea that will be presented in all our 80 stores around the world under a Georgian brand. We will be offering 5 types of “detox” tea while factoring in the unique tea preparation methods in Brazil, Japan, South Africa, India and in Scandinavia.

Was it hard to do a job in this regard because of the different direction from what you have been used to?

We do not offer customers perfume but emotions. Whatever we sell does not matter as long as we embody these emotions. The main thing is the service, openness, and smile. If you look at it critically, tea is also related to scent.

You have lived in France for years and you still have ongoing business relationships. What kind of country is France from your perception?

France is a country from which I learned a lot. Life in this country was another additional education for me in the area of business. I have learned a lot of good and bad, and I am thankful that I learned that bad also exists. I can decipher bad relationships now from the start because I have learnt from them. I have had great experience. When my friend decided to go to France in 1994, I resisted him and told him to go without me but I am grateful today because he took me along then. At that time, we could earn a lot of money in Russia, but we did not care about it instead, we focused on our development. We have grown at least ten times over in our minds, with our company only reflecting our growth and development. The only source for this growth is our close relations with foreigners.