The Paris-founded fragrance brand will take a 795 sq ft unit at 37 Beak Street, adding another international debut to Shaftesbury Capital’s Soho portfolio.
Shaftesbury Capital has announced that French fragrance brand Essential Parfums will open at 37 Beak Street in Soho in early October. The 795 sq ft site will mark the brand’s UK debut and its first standalone store outside France.
Founded in Paris in 2018 by Géraldine Archambault, Essential Parfums works with perfumers including Calice Becker, Quentin Bisch and Nathalie Lorson. The Soho store will present the brand’s fragrance range alongside candles, hair and body mists, and hand creams.
The interior will draw on Parisian apartments and Essential Parfums’ boutiques in France. A minimalist design will place the focus on the fragrance offer, with the brand describing its price positioning as accessible.
The store will sit next to Grown Alchemist, while Beak Street’s wider mix includes Aesop, Le Labo, GANNI and ALOHAS. The location places Essential Parfums within Soho’s established combination of beauty, lifestyle and premium fashion retailers.
“Securing another UKdebut is testament to the strength and appeal of our Soho portfolio, given its global status and revered collection of international brands. Essential Parfums feels like a natural fit for the neighbourhood, and being just around the corner from Carnaby Street, it joins a neighbourhood built on creativity, discovery, and premium experiences. Introducing the brand’s first standalone store outside of France allows us to extend Soho’s truly distinctive retail offer, complementing Beak Street’s character and again adding something our visitors cannot experience anywhere else.”
William Oliver Director of Retail and Restaurant Leasing, Shaftesbury Capital
“Our upcoming launch in Soho marks an exciting new chapter for Essential Parfums, as we open our first standalone store outside of France. Expanding into the UK market has been a natural next step for the brand, allowing us to share our approach to modern perfumery with a new community of fragrance enthusiasts. Finding the right location was essential, and Soho offers the perfect environment to bring Essential Parfums to the UK, placing us in a high footfall destination with a highly engaged demographic, eager to discover new retail experiences.”
Géraldine Archambault Co-founder and CEO, Essential Parfums
Géraldine Archambault Co-founder and CEO, Essential Parfums
The signing follows the arrival of Sephora’s boutique flagship on Carnaby Street, which marked the cosmetics retailer’s West End debut and introduced a new store format for the brand.
Terry Clark is the Publisher and Content Director of 365 Retail, with more than a decade of experience covering retail design, technology innovations, store openings and the wider retail industry. He also works closely with leading retailers, suppliers, agencies, events and industry awards across the UK.
