In total the claw has ten points of sale

For his new shop, which will open in Paris early may, Fragonard is placed on the path to the tourists: at the foot of the Montmartre funicular, rue Tardieu. And the perfumer has opted for a development charged convey craft spirit, with "business furniture" world of fragrances. Another store will follow in Grasse, stronghold of the company.

Stone by stone, mark extends its territory, geographically as supply. Born from the perfumery in 1926, it is now also very present in products for home, jewelry and gift objects. And, recently, in the clothes. Not to mention its bestsellers, the trip carried for shoes or lingerie. A category of products that has inspired other actors.

For the company, who does not know the crisis, developments have never been as numerous this year. Fragonard thus launches a collection of perfumes of atmosphere evoking each season of lily of the Valley for spring in orange blossom for fall. A segment logical because it mixes the smell, the brand DNA, and the House, a market on which it develops.

"We're building stories." "We rely heavily on messages associated with the designs on the joy of living", note Agnès Costa, who runs the family business with his sister. The collection of the time entitled "A fabulous summer." The next will be thematic fairies Christmas. And because the limited series are used to create the event, the mimosa is the 2010 theme, after the rose last year.

The family character of the company contributes to the proliferation of products. "We want to make us happy," likes to repeat Agnès Costa, who keeps always on it a small book cloth to record new tracks and who wants that all can find its place in it.

Bias seems to work. One of the keys to success: the price positioning. The products are very affordable. And easily become gifts, especially to a dinner for often less than that of a bouquet. An undeniable asset in times of crisis. Some customers buy even a dozen gifts in advance to have on hand when they are invited. The another vein of clientele are tourists. Next to the imagination of the South of the France, the capital is also sources of inspiration. With, in the new collection, bags or bags "beloved Paris.

Connect with art

The mark also managed the feat to develop its sales by correspondence at a time where the catalogues are yet not the wind. It has, it is true, a lever of diffusion without equivalent: one million visitors attend its museums in Paris and Grasse, as well as its plant. And pass through the adjacent shops, where the catalog is available.

"We have no real competition", considers Agnès Costa. The offer is clearly wider than that of the actors in cosmetics such as L'Occitane and positioning has nothing to do with the claws of luxury present both in the beauty, home and fashion. For this brand "style of life", the clothing did is no less a new angle of attack. Fragonard will therefore have to impose in this universe. With hazards related to the effects of mode.

Even if it is rather well at a time difficult, the claw would not grow too fast. The family wants to keep control. And does therefore not getting abroad, preferring to continue to develop in Paris or in towns where different clienteles. In total, the claw has ten points of sale. Plus, since little, with corners at Nice airport.

At the end of the year, Fragonard will open a new Museum in Grasse, in addition to that devoted to the costume and the provençal gem. In a mansion of the 18th century, it will turn around the paintings of Fragonard, native painter of the city in which the great-grandfather of the current leaders had decided to tribute by naming his company. At a time where painting exhibitions are successful, this link with art should give an extra dimension to the mark.