Franco Wright (Luckyscent): “Ultimately customers see how the niche category pushes fragrance in more interesting directions”

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After cofounding a design agency, Americans Franco Wright and Adam Eastwood came up in 2002 with the idea of creating Luckyscent, their own e-commerce site specialising in niche fragrances. They opened their first Scent Bar in Los Angeles in 2006, followed by a second in the same city and a third in New York in 2019. Interview.

Can you tell us a little about the store?

We created Scent Bar as a brick and mortar concept to our website – bringing the vast selection of niche, artisan and even ’super niche’ fragrances to clientele in from all over the globe and presenting them in a friendly environment. Our fragrances are organized by theme, and presenting in a “wine-bar” like setting.

What brings people into your store?

Our selection and the knowledge of our staff. Whether you are a collector or just beginning to discover niche perfumes, we provide a fun, engaging experience.

What are the obstacles in terms of consumers being more used to mainstream creations?

I think customers that are used to mainstream brands tend to be curious and open minded to discover and smell different genres of fragrance. Ultimately these customers see how the niche category pushes fragrance in more interesting directions.

How do you discover brands?

All kinds of ways: online, social, sometimes via customers. Also brands often submit to us. And once in a while… how we first started finding brands — traveling abroad.

How do you choose those you sell?

It’s a mix of many factors – brand concept, scent profile, price, distribution, customer trends, rarity, even popularity.
More and more often we ask ourselves, Do we need this? Do we already sell this? How will this perform online vs. in-store? We try to curate the best selection in a store that covers all the genres.

What are the best sellers?

There are brands we spent many years nurturing and really continue to create excellent, unique fragrances. For example, we’ve historically done consistently well with Escentric Molecules, Comme des Garcons, Tauer, Indult.. Lately we’ve seen a lot of growth and excitement around Xerjoff, Kurkdjian, Zoologist and newer houses like Marc-Antoine Barrois.

Are there brands you carry even if they are less profitable?

Of course, sometimes margin is not the key factor we look at.

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