Vera Wang Scent Sets Saks Record

NEW YORK — Love was in the air at Saks Fifth Avenue Wednesday afternoon, as Vera Wang produced the biggest one-day sales total for fragrance in the store’s history. Wang’s new eponymous fragrance rang up an estimated $25,000 at Saks’s Manhattan flagship Wednesday, when Wang appeared to promote it. About 50 percent of buyers were men — including a few of New York’s Bravest, who came in for a routine fire inspection and left bearing bags of Wang’s fragrance line. One male shopper sheepishly admitted that he’d been sent to fetch the scent as a Valentine’s Day gift: “My girlfriend told me she wanted it,” he said.

The scent is an intense floral developed by Firmenich.

“There are so many factors that contributed to this success,” said Deborah Walters, senior vice president and general merchandise manager at Saks Fifth Avenue, who noted that the juice was on track to break records for launch week volume at Saks. “There’s the power of Vera’s name with our customers. And all the elements are aligned — …a beautiful juice, elegant packaging and flawless execution from the field. Vera really connected with our sales force, too — …there was an incredible energy and excitement on the floor. She’s magic.”