Dossier.
Photo: Courtesy of Dossier
While sniffing via a screen is a technology yet to be cracked, the brick-and-mortar fragrance business is booming: 75 percent of fragrance sales in the U.S. happen in stores. And over the past year, it’s seemed as if every other boutique opening in the city is a perfumer or a home-fragrance shop. At FF&E (109 Montrose Ave., Williamsburg), run by design firm Lichen and scent-maker Fragile Glass, shoppers have been particularly taken with its “earthcense” — incense that, according to Lichen’s website, “smells like wet rocks, but in a good way.” Naked Ghosts (66 Greenwich Ave.), which opened in the summer, offers a tight selection of niche eaux (such as Annindriya and Chester Gibs’s Walk With Me) chosen by store co-founder Christophe Laudamiel, a perfumer whose own fragrances are for sale. Meanwhile, a slew of scent stores have come to Soho and Nolita since last fall, including Commodity Fragrances (113 Crosby St.), where you can dab yourself with viral “milky” perfumes like Milk Orchid or sign up for a master class. More recently, Dossier (242 Elizabeth St.), a Gen-Z destination for affordable designer-perfume dupes, and Blueme (259 Elizabeth St.), a shop that sells candles in refillable beige ceramic containers, have opened. At wellness emporium 113 Spring (at Mercer St.), visitors can sip blue butterfly-pea tea while having a “Mind-Scent Experience,” during which a custom fragrance is created using EveryHuman’s AI generator. Not bespoke but similarly varied are the 600-plus scents available at Stéle (179 Mott St.), a shop devoted to highlighting brands beloved by fragranceheads, including ones from Perfumer H and Kismet Olfactive. Finally, not far from Broadway’s Tween Row, Estée Lauder Companies has opened a Fragrance Row of its own with Kilian Paris, Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle, Tom Ford Beauty, and Jo Malone London moving into consecutive storefronts (120–124 Prince St.).
From left: FF&E. Photo: Erik Lauchie/Courtesy of FF&ECommodity Fragrances. Photo: Courtesy of Commodity
From top: FF&E. Photo: Erik Lauchie/Courtesy of FF&ECommodity Fragrances. Photo: Courtesy of Commodity
Surrender Dorothy
1930s ballet costumes from London, an original program for The Red Shoes, and a vintage dollhouse displaying perfumes by Marissa Zappas are on offer at this downtown bric-a-brac boutique. (13 W. 17th St., buzzer No. 2)
First Bloom
Alison Roman brings her Catskills grocery store to Chinatown’s Casetta wine bar for a few weeks. Expect a café serving green bagna cauda and Spanish tortillas plus a shoppable pantry of coffee, granola, and, of course, anchovies. (61 Hester St.; open November 5 through 30)
Michael Kors
Following the opening of its Madison Avenue flagship, Michael Kors has renovated its 7,000-square-foot Rockefeller Center location, where shoppers will find a collection of small leather goods and a charm bar. (610 Fifth Ave.)
Fishs Eddy
Julie Gaines has been selling checkerboard-rimmed plates and diner-style mugs since the 1980s. Now, she’s opening a second location in Brooklyn with a soda bar and drip coffee for $1.95. (81 Front St., Dumbo)
William White Emporium
Cognac-colored wide-wale-corduroy jackets and rose-tinted wineglasses etched with stars are available at designer Will Cooper’s new boutique–slash–newsstand–slash–coffee shop. (325 Canal St.)
Big Night
The Greenpoint shoppy shop comes to the Upper East Side, around the corner from Cafe Commerce and Chez Fifi. (1015 Lexington Ave.)
Mr. Boddington’s Studio
French grid notepads, custom wrapping paper and stationery, and collectible children’s books have arrived in Brownstone Brooklyn. (153 Seventh Ave., Park Slope)
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