Perfume Connection

Have you ever walked up to a perfume/​cologne counter and felt overwhelmed by the choices? I have and Perfume Connection doesn’t make it easy. Their showcases are stocked with perfumes and colognes. The middle island is filled to the brim, both on the glass shelves and in the cabinets below. They even have a warehouse that holds excess inventory.
There’s no shortage of options here — you are bound to find something you like. Their prices are fair, and they accept up to $ 10 in ‘Festivalue Dollars”, $ 1 flea market currency that can be used for every $ 5 American spent. (You get flea market currency at information desks in the building.)
There are several perfume counters in the flea market but what makes this one unique — besides their inventory of hard to find scents like Bond #9 — is that the employees know their perfumes and colognes. They are able to translate my likes into a scent profile so they present perfumes that represent my likes. They aren’t just order-​takers or disengaged counter help. They actually work with me to sort out the perfumes that ‘speak’ to me and help me to narrow down the ones that I like best. Ultimately I leave with perfume that I like that day and months later. That is why I keep returning to them!
They also have discontinued colognes (like Pur-​Sang) and perfumes (like Bulgari Omnia brown) so we can keep getting scents that are hard to find. Today hubby got Armani Code and Pur-​Sang and I got Gucci Première to go along with recent purchases of Narciso Rodriguez for Her and Bulgari Jasmine Noir. Thankfully their prices enable me to buy expensive brands!
This store, like most in the flea market and beyond, offers ‘tester’ bottles as well as traditional bottles. Tester bottles have the same perfume/​cologne but lack the fancy packaging. The bottles of my perfume are beautiful — likely because the perfume is high end — and I don’t keep the boxes so I don’t care about that. I only care about the perfume. Their tester boxes are usually sealed and stored appropriately, so I know the perfume is in tact, unused, and unspoiled by heat. I’ve shopped here for a few years and have never had an issue — but they have a generous return policy if we find we don’t like the perfume/​cologne after the purchase. They’re located where Market Street meets Carnival within the flea market building.