On December 1, Diptyque Paris will open a new 2,100-square-foot two-story flagship store on Madison Avenue in New York City, kicking off the holiday season.
The U.S. is the brand’s No. 1 global market, based on sales, according to Julien Gommichon, president of the Americas for Diptyque Paris, underscoring the need for a local flagship. The store features all categories of the brand’s product assortment, including candles, home and personal fragrances, home décor, and bath and body. Gommichon declined to share Diptyque Paris’s annual sales and growth but said retail accounts for 40% of Diptyque Paris sales. He said he expects the new flagship to serve as a revenue driver. According to the National Candle Association, approximately 35% of candle sales occur during the holiday season.
“We have the possibility to showcase all of our products, and it’s a place for experience,” said Gommichon. “We have more space to offer exclusive services and personalization, like engraving and embossing. Our experiences and services are even more enhanced and visible for clients in the flagship store.”
Additional services offered at the store include personal shopping, one-on-one fragrance layering education, a fragrance refill station and gift wrapping. In addition, VIP clients can book the dining room-style private area to host cocktail parties and other events. According to previous Glossy reporting in April, luxury brands opening U.S. flagships has been a running theme throughout 2023. Thom Browne opened a flagship store in Boston in April, Tiffany & Co. reopened its Fifth Avenue flagship around the same time, and Louis Vuitton is expected to open a new building and flagship store in Manhattan next year. The new store is twice the size of Diptyque Paris’s original Madison Ave. location, which had a more traditional storefront and closed in May for renovations.
It is well understood and documented that the Covid period of lockdowns led to homebound people confronting the state of their homes, subsequently leaning into home fragrances and premium products to elevate their interiors. For Diptyque Paris, the post-Covid period has seen a resurgence in personal fragrance, said Gommichon, noting that approximately 40% of brand sales are now personal fragrance. Notably, Diptyque Paris has marketed non-gendered fragrances since the brand debut in 1961, while the industry trend only reached a tipping point in the last few years. According to the National Retail Federation, holiday sales for 2023 are expected to increase 3-4% year-over-year to between $957.3 billion and $966.6 billion, which would be an annual sales record.
Jessie Dawes, CMO of Americas for Diptyque Paris, said promotion for the flagship store includes an OOH campaign across New York City, paid social ads and an opening party at the end of November.
