Overview

Floris is a luxury perfumery shop which dates back to 1730. The shop remains a family business which specialise in creating their own brand and bespoke fragrances. Its famous customers have included Florence Nightingale, Marilyn Monroe, David Bowie, Oscar Wilde and Winston Churchill. The shop is open daily, and is step free. I attended a group visit to the shop as part of London Craft Week in May 2023. The visit included visiting their in-house perfumery and museum, at the back of the shop, and a talk about their perfumes and how they are made. We also smelt samples of many of their perfumes. Therefore this review is especially for people considering attending a similar event and wondering how accessible it is.

Transport & Parking

Floris is on Jermyn Street, which is the road directly behind and running parallel with Piccadilly. The shop is close to both Green Park Tube Station, which is step free, and Piccadilly Circus, which is not step free. There are several buses that run along the length of Piccadilly and other buses that drive through Piccadilly Circus and up Regent Street, which all stop close by.

Access

Floris is a small shop. There is step free access from street level through the front door. The front door was already opened when I visit. It is a single, manual door. The shop and the museum, at the back of the shop, are all step free and on the ground floor. The shop is spaciously laid out with large display cabinets around the walls. The mahogany cabinets were purchased at the Great Exhibition of 1851. There is shelving is from floor to ceiling. On one side there is a counter which is at standing height. The centre of the shop only has two pieces of furniture. One is a podium type by the front door. There is also the perfume testing bar, where their perfumes are displayed. There are glass jars which customers can lift the lid to smell a particular fragrance. This has been designed so that the customer can smell one fragrance at a time rather than walking into a perfumery and being over powered by sensory overload. At the back of the shop is a small museum. On the private tour, we were taken through a blue, single, manual door, which is not usually accessible to the public, into the area where the on sight perfumery and a larger museum. This is where most of my photos were taken. On the group tour there were about 15 of us. I was able to have one of the seats, but most people were standing.

Toilets

I don't know if they have a visitors' toilet.

Staff

Staff were exceptional. We were welcomed and shown into the perfumery at the back of the shop. The talk was led by Edward Bodenham, Director and great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandson of founder Juan Floris. There were two perfumers, one who explained in detail the fragrances and how they are created, and the other assisted her with handing out cards sprayed with different fragrances. We must have tried about 15 during our visit. They also answered questions and gave the group time to look around the museum. The staff are extremely knowledgeable, engaging and friendly. When we left the staff in the shop handed out small goodie bags, with samples of two of their perfumes.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

This visit was exceptional and very special. It was not rushed and sitting in the perfumery, where customers' bespoke scents are created was a very unique experience. The talk and demonstration was fascinating and captivating. Staff were very attentive and the whole experience was step free. A real treat and a lovely, magical experience. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Photos