MARATHON, N.Y. — A Cortland County business is taking on the perfume world, one scent at a time, and now, one partnership at a time. Marathon–based Allure City, Inc., which does business as Press Gurwitz Perfumerie, recently launched its first partnership with Just Chill Custom Gifting by Carol in Cortland. The shop, owned by Carol […]
MARATHON, N.Y. — A Cortland County business is taking on the perfume world, one scent at a time, and now, one partnership at a time.
Marathon–based Allure City, Inc., which does business as Press Gurwitz Perfumerie, recently launched its first partnership with Just Chill Custom Gifting by Carol in Cortland. The shop, owned by Carol Hill, now features a rotating collection of seven Press Gurwitz fragrance products in its retail shop at 4 Main St.
The company found Hill’s store in the free local What’s Hot magazine, based in Ithaca and Cortland, says Victor Rakovich, one of Press Gurwitz Perfumerie’s founders and its VP and director of operations.
It didn’t take long for both businesses to realize it would benefit them to work together, he says. Hill offers the products as an option in her customized gift baskets and boxes, and shoppers can buy Press Gurwitz products off the shelf in her shop.
Founded in 2019 by Rakovich and the husband-wife team of Michael and Alexandra Press, Press Gurwitz Perfumerie’s portfolio includes 15 signature scents offered as eau de parfum and eau de toilette, hair and body-care products, candles, and diffusers.
The trio not only enjoyed perfumes and fragrances but also realized the role scent plays in people’s lives, Rakovich says. Fragrance can bring people together, evoke an emotion, or even bring up a childhood memory. That’s what led the friends to start the business together.
While much of the perfume industry is built around distinct fragrances for men and other fragrances for women, he says they wanted to do something different at Press Gurwitz. Rather than create scents along gender lines, the entire Press Gurwitz line is unisex.
It just makes sense, Rakovich says. He and his wife Celeste, who also works in the business, enjoy many of the same fragrances, so why can’t they wear the same fragrances, he asks. “We like the same things, and it’s an expression of both of us.”
Rakovich hopes the partnership with Just Chill Custom Gifting by Carol will be the first of many similar arrangements as he works to spread the reach of Press Gurwitz Perfumerie.
“There are so many different businesses we will work with,” Rakovich says, adding that he’s in the process of generating a list of other firms to approach.
His list includes other retailers as well as businesses that can utilize the company’s home fragrances or body-care products including restaurants, hotels, and other venues. “All of these places we can work with,” Rakovich says.
Press Gurwitz Perfumerie, which has a showroom at 6 East Main St. in Marathon, crafts its products in-house with ingredients and oils from around the world. The company works with contract manufacturers on certain products like shampoos and lotion but otherwise remains very much a family business with their children and others helping out. The business employs 10 people in customer service and other non-production roles.