It used to be the scent of the English Royal Court, the Eau de Cologne that made Goethe and Napoleon fall in love. Atkinsons was founded in London in 1799 by James Atkinsons. In the nineteenth century  the brand expanded. The 1930s were the years of the consecration. Until World War II and bankruptcy. Bought first by Unilever, then by Procter & Gamble, in 2013 the brand was acquired by Perfume Holding, which is part of Investindustrial by Andrea Bonomi, who relaunched it. It has now opened its first flagship store in London at Burlington Arcade. “We’re going back to London, to our history, just where the Atkinsons headquarter was”, says Dino Pace, CEO of Perfume Holding. The one we are about to open on November 23 is an exclusive shop on three floors where we also set up the Atkinsons archive with the formulas of the old perfumes and the founder’s agendas ».

Atkinsons has 450 outlets in 33 countries. By 2017, the number of stores will reach 580 in 49 states. “This for us will be a year of substantial  endurance,” says Pace. Latin America and Russia travel at full sails. In the Middle East, consumption has fallen sharply, but we defend ourselves through our diversified portfolio.” The business segment to which the group is heading remains the niche scent. This is a strong market, as  shown by some recent acquisitions by large groups, from Estée Lauder to L’Oréal or the BlueGem investment fund.