Groupe Bogart takes to distribution

Kristel Milet

11 January 2016

Recognized as one of the last French independent groups in perfumery, the Groupe Bogart, which owns Carven Parfums, announced last December the success of its private placement to institutional investors for about 16.2 million euros. The completion of the operation should allow accelerating the development of the group’s retail business. Actually, the Groupe Bogart already owns, about thirty points of sale in France under the brand, April.

Other than the original brand, Jacques Bogart, historically presented with the slogan “Je ne crée que pour l’homme” (My creations are only for men), the Groupe Bogart fully owns perfume brands Ted Lapidus and Carven, perfume licenses Chevignon, Lee Cooper, and Naf Naf, and cosmetics brands Méthode Jeanne Piaubert and Stendhal. This eclectic list covers a large part of the selective distribution offering, from the most affordable to the most premium, with Carven Parfums, a brand that was successfully relaunched in 2013.

A new selective perfumery chain

Although the company is open to the possibility of new acquisitions, today Bogart focuses on its development in the distribution sector: the Group has seized the opportunity to purchase several points of sale excluded from the merger between Douglas and Nocibé and has opened about thirty points of sale in France under the brand April, name of the perfumery chain previously acquired in Israel.

“Our products are exclusively developed and made in France. By adding distribution, the Groupe Bogart controls the whole chain, down to retail. We wanted to be able to provide our brands with a showcase,” explains Fanny Aimetti, Fragrance Marketing Manager. This multi-brand network of points of sale is spread across the whole territory, though mainly outside the Parisian region, and is “set to develop”, she adds.

To date, April owns 37 stores in Israel, 35 in France and 1 in Portugal.

Projects for Carven Parfums in 2017

The brand Jacques Bogart represents the major part of the Group’s turnover, followed by Ted Lapidus, with 24 perfumed lines and a very active presence abroad. Started in 2010, the Carven olfactory journey is the latest of the group. It concurred with the rebirth of the couture house managed by its dynamic Artistic Director, Guillaume Henry, and it now enjoys a strong notoriety in France, though it remains to be developed worldwide. “We have a very qualitative distribution, but it is centred on Carven Parfums. In terms of development, the brand’s objective depends on the growth of this selective distribution,” Fanny Aimetti comments.

The women’s range is composed of Carven Le Parfum, launched in 2013 and created by Francis Kurkdjian, the iconic perfumer-creator of the new creative perfumery, Carven L’Eau de Toilette, and now Carven L’Absolu, a new 2015 fragrance. It is completed with redesigned classics of the house, Ma Griffe and Vétiver, and Carven pour Homme for men.

A new perfume is being created to be launched in 2017.