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Topper Schroeder is today a respected fragrance
marketer whose own elite lines of scents and body care products include
Gendarme, Grabazzi and GendarmeV (for men) and Carrière (for women).
But in 1983, Topper Schroeder was just a consumer on a quest to find
cologne he could wear with pride -- but without irritating skin or
asthmatic reactions.
After searching department store and men's
counters everywhere without success, Topper decided to develop that
dream cologne for his own use. Guided by his sole friend in the
business, personal ideas of what a cologne should project, and no
professional fragrance background whatsoever, he proved to be a quick
study. While his mentor opened closed doors for him, the doorkeepers at
first saw Topper as someone going to a lot of trouble to satisfy a
self-defined market of one.
What Topper developed was born with
an ID number, but without a commercial home or name. Eventually
christened by long time partner Bob Adels, who translated Topper's
desire for a macho French moniker into Gendarme (a French policeman),
"the arresting new scent for men," this unique cologne gradually grew
its own corporation.
After home-testing his ability to enjoy Gendarme without allergic
irritation, Topper began to wear it everywhere and evolved from an
inadvertent walking billboard to the first fragrance marketer from the
music business --a personable maverick in an industry dominated by
multi-national corporations.
His
creation's unanticipated retail introduction resulted from Topper
giving Gendarme as Christmas presents to business associates across the
country. As they began wearing Topper's once private fragrance to their
own favorite men's stores, shop owners and buyers demanded to know
where they could order this unexpected discovery. A successful launch
at the trend-setting Fred Segal in Hollywood led to national department
store interest. Growing industry demand for Gendarme, the fragrance,
eventually led Topper to leave his music biz career to launch Gendarme,
the company.
Within a few years, Gendarme was not only a cologne
but a full line of personal grooming products - today including after
shave/skin care balm, skin conditioner, bath bar, shaving cream and
body shampoo. Retail word-of mouth built a huge celebrity clientele, a
national network of over 1,000 upscale sales "doors" and of course
gendarme.com. In 1995, Topper launched Grabazzi in select specialty
shops, and like Gendarme it quickly grew its own devoted customer base.
Carriere, Gendarme's feminine counterpart, debuted in 1996, after being
worn by impatient perfume counter managers years before its release.
Gendarme V, the latest from Gendarme is just out in limited
distribution.
The one common note in all of Topper's lines is
the fanatical consumer loyalty they engender -- leading to an
unprecedented percentage of repeat and multiple sales, and challenging
the "What's new?" and "which should I switch to?" habits of consumers.
Over
the years Gendarme has changed the way people think about fragrance.
Many imitations have entered the market but no one has matched the
complex elegance that formulas that come to life as the simply fresh
scents of Gendarme. Still the amiable maverick, Topper eschews the
image of the distant mogul in favor of the hands-on approach, never too
busy to shake hands and chat with a loyal customer or counter clerk. |
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