After 14 years, La Petite Parfumerie closed its doors at its Southdale storefront this past January—seemingly for good. (It even sold its fixtures and displays.) But today came the exciting news that the luxury perfume boutique has announced its return. The locally owned retailer will open a new brick-and-mortar storefront in Wayzata, where owner Diane Wissink first debuted the business in 2003 under the name Cherie Boutique Francaise. The store relocated to Excelsior in 2013, when it was rechristened La Petite Parfumerie, before moving to Southdale at the end of 2014.
The boutique is known for its high-end collection of perfume and candles from elite labels, such as candle maker Cire Trudon (the oldest candle manufacturer in the world, it was founded in 1643 and was an official provider to the royal court of Louis XIV) and fragrance houses Frédéric Malle, Santa Maria Novella, Bond #9, and Diptyque. At $125 to $250 a bottle, these fragrances aren’t cheap–but they’re pricey for a reason. Unlike commercial fragrances, luxury perfumes are made with real ingredients, such as plant and flower extracts, rather than synthetic ones.
At the time, Wissink had cited stiff competition from internet retailers for the store’s Southdale closing. Plus, La Petite Parfumerie had opened long before retailers such as Nordstrom’s Blue Mercury and Cos Bar started carrying some of the same, previously hard-to-find French labels.
Wissink says she expects the new Wayzata store to open by the end of June at 755 East Lake Street on Lake Minnetonka in the space previously occupied by Paper + Cloth boutique and Watermark stationery.
Update:
The new location of La Petite Parfumerie permanently closed its doors, too, in February 2019.
