The smell of Success: Trump cologne sales rise sharply

Sales of Empire and Success, two colognes carrying the brand of President-elect Donald Trump, have risen sharply in recent weeks, according to two local fragrance vendors.

Both colognes are made by Bellport-based fragrance retailer Perfumania Holdings Inc., a company with $542 million in annual revenue that creates celebrity branded fragrances.

Sales of Trump colognes “were up 52 percent” in October, said Jason Apfel, president of fragrance retailer Fragrance.com, based in Deer Park. “Even crazier, during the first 10 months of 2016, sales were up 149 percent,” Apfel said. “Our best-selling Trump fragrance is Success.”

At Hauppauge-based Perfume.com, Trump cologne sales have also increased by about 50 percent since the election, after rising about 20 percent during the campaign, a representative said.

“Sales of Donald Trump colognes have been OK in the past but now they’ve increased substantially,” he said. Trump’s Success sells better than Empire and has “gained the most traction.”

The strong sales of the colognes come more than a year after Perfumania publicly sought to distance itself from Trump as he was campaigning for the Republican nomination for president.

“Perfumania is winding down its retail business with the Donald Trump fragrance brand,” Jono Waks, a Perfumania publicist, told MSNBC in July 2015. Waks said the company was searching for ways it could legally end its agreement with Trump.

Waks’ statement came three weeks after Trump, in announcing his candidacy, referred to Mexican immigrants who entered the United States illegally as “criminals and rapists.”

Other brands and retailers, such as Macy’s — at the time, the exclusive retailer of Empire — also publicly broke with the businessman turned politician.

“In light of statements made by Donald Trump, which are inconsistent with Macy’s values, we have decided to discontinue our business relationship with Mr. Trump and will phaseout the Trump menswear collection,” Macy’s said in a July 2015 statement.

As retailers disassociated themselves from Trump’s brand, he told Forbes that month: “They’ll all be back.”

He blamed their decision to stop doing business with him on their desire to be “politically correct.”

Perfumania did not respond to several email and telephone requests for comment.

Both Success and Empire are currently on sale on the retailer’s website.