How Scent Sells

The Personal Care and Candle Picture at Boutiques

By Carimé Lane

Personal care items may be the feature, co-feature, or highlighted on-the-side at boutiques. Here, we focus on advice from several boutique owners on all things scented.

Georganne Bryant founded Frances Boutique in the heart of midtown Phoenix in 2006. In their 2,000-square-foot space, the top-sellers are mainly local brands they carry and collaborate with. These brands include: Earth Based Body located in Tucson, Phoenix-based Lua Skin Care products and Vim and Vigor Candles located in Phoenix. Frances Boutique collaborated with Vim and Vigor to create the Red Currant Candle. The Boutique contributed the design, while Vim and Vigor created the candle. Another top seller is their Desert Blossom Frances Jar Candle, an Arizona citrus and cactus flower profile, created in collaboration with Standard Wax. And Swag Brewery soaps, Lapco face masks and sage/flower bundles are other brands and items that do well in the store.

Instagram and Facebook are Bryant’s go-tos for “…spreading the love of our products.” She has one employee who focuses solely on social media, who engages with customers, and curates the content to be as “shoppable” as possible.

Bryant has noticed a definite uptick in sales of gifts and personal care merchandise. Friends have been sending personal care gifts to the friends they can’t get together with, or may just be “treating themselves to some retail selfcare therapy,” she said.

Nancy Resing of hazyl boutique in Elmhurst, Ill.’s best-sellers are locallysourced goat’s milk soaps and lotions. The scents range from Bloomin’ Tulip to Honey Oatmeal (A fan favorite for its basic, subtle scent) to cranberry orange during the holidays. Candles are also locally sourced.

To bring personal care products front-and-center, Resing pairs soaps on her main front table with matching outfit displays. “Customers gravitate to-