The Fragrance Shop has bounced back from the pandemic with increased annual sales and profits as it prepares for further growth and a move to a new home.
Newly published accounts for its parent group show turnover rose to £156.8m in the 53 weeks to April 2, 2022, up from £110m in the 52 weeks to March 27, 2021 . That is also up on the pre-pandemic level of £120m in the 52 weeks to March 31, 2020. Cartoon (Holdings) reported a pre-tax profit of £24.5m for the year, up from 11.7m in 2021.
While Fragrance Shop stores were closed in the first weeks of the financial year with Covid lockdowns, the impact was smaller than in the previous year of three lockdowns.
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When the stores did reopen they traded strongly and customers spent more - meaning underlying store sales were up 101% on the prior year and up 6.2% on 2019-20.
The Manchester group's rollout strategy continued, with 18 new shops added over the year. The group now has 215 locations.
Online performance was up 129% on 2020, but fell 12% on 2021 when the group grew online sales massively during the pandemic and associated lockdowns.
The company said it expected the retail environment "to remain competitive and challenging, especially given the economic outlook, inflationary forces and ongoing pressures on supply chains".
It added: “The group has shown a robustness in trading to the challenges presented over the previous pandemic impacted years and is well placed to navigate the current uncertainty going forwards and will continue to roll out stores and expand its digital footprint.”
The group said its subscription services, including the MyTFS membership scheme and discovery service Scent Addict, have continued to perform well.
Dior Sauvage was the group's leading male fragrance, with Chanel Coco Mademoiselle the number one female fragrance.
Also this year, the group agreed a lease on a new headquarters and fulfilment centre in Trafford Park and has already begun the move from its current base in Acheson Way.
The new 190,000 sq ft complex uses carbon cutting technologies including air source heat pumps, and has more than 6,000 sq ft of solar panels.
The Fragrance Shop also continued its charitable work. The group has now raised more than £1.6m for children’s charities through its Spray a Little Happiness Foundation.
CEO Sanjay Vadera MBE said: “Despite the seismic events of the past few years and current macro-economic trends, we are a business that’s in confident mood, delivering to both the top and bottom line as we spray a little happiness to our customers both in store and online.
“I want to thank our people for their commitment to the business and our customers – their resilience and entrepreneurial spirit continues to inspire me every day.”
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