NEW YORK — The U.S. distributors of Comptoir Sud Pacifique, the chic French fragrance line, are hoping to create a similar cachet for their new line of bath and body products.
Susan D’Aliotta, who has been marketing Comptoir Sud Pacifique here for three years, is launching the new line, called Maison D’Aliotta, with her husband, Lionel, who described the range as “everything that’s going to touch or enrich your senses.”
The line should do at least $2 million in global retail sales its first year, according to Lionel D’Aliotta, who added that Maison will also be introduced in the U.K., Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Comptoir Sud Pacifique already has a strong following in Europe.
Maison D’Aliotta will begin as a bath-oriented line, with four flavors of bath salts set to ship to about 500 doors at the end of July. Key retail accounts will include Henri Bendel, Galeries Lafayette and Saks Fifth Avenue, the same as the Comptoir fragrances’.
The D’Aliottas created Maison with an eye toward TV. The couple is in talks with Q2, the new lifestyle channel of QVC, to develop a show around the concept, according to Lionel D’Aliotta.
Susan D’Aliotta said distribution of Maison also will encompass other less traditional venues, such as hotels, florists, boutiques and spas.
Packaged in glass milk bottles with aluminum caps, the bath salts contain seaweed and minerals and are said to soothe and exfoliate the skin and relax the muscles. A 16-oz. bottle will retail for $26; an 8-oz. bottle, $18.
In the fall, the D’Aliottas will follow up with some unusual line extensions: After-Bath candy mints, After-Bath mineral water (with medium bubbles) and After-Lovemaking mineral water (with smaller, fast-rising bubbles).
“When you finish making love, you want something that refreshes you and sizzles a little,” observed Lionel D’Aliotta, adding, “You’re so thirsty — hopefully.”
The D’Aliottas, who are newlyweds, are writing a how-to book on romance called, “Venus Was Born in America,” which will be sold as part of the line.
Susan D’Aliotta noted that they are planning such additional items as a dry oil spray, an herbal soak, a massage paste and an alcohol-free after-bath splash.
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The splash, tentatively scheduled for a 1995 introduction, will probably come in three scents — men’s, women’s and unisex — each composed of two or three notes, she said.
While working on their own line, the two also have devised plans for Comptoir Sud Pacifique’s 25 aluminum-bottled fragrances. Lionel D’Aliotta said he plans to double the line’s distribution from about 200 doors in the U.S. to 400 by this fall.
The Comptoir brand is also going on Q2. Melissa Starin, Q2’s health and beauty buyer, said she plans to feature Pamplemousse, the line’s grapefruit fragrance, on a show about citrus scents. Starin said Comptoir’s vanilla-based scents, including Vanille CafÄ and Vanille Amande, may work well in a show about fragrances with edible notes.
Starin said Q2 will stick with Comptoir’s standard retail price of about $72 for a 5.3-oz. eau de toilette spray.
“It’s expensive for television, but we’re going for an upscale customer — people who have money and want to spend it,” Starin said.
Overall retail sales of Comptoir, which also has a mail-order business, should hit $2 million in 1994, according to Susan D’Aliotta, and should double to at least $4 million in 1995.
The D’Aliottas expect the growth to come not only from expanded distribution but also from new products.
Comptoir will introduce Amour de Cacao, a scent of bitter chocolate, bitter orange and vanilla, at the end of the summer.
The D’Aliottas said they expect the new fragrance to appeal to women and men, as do many of the Comptoir scents.