Consumer preference for affordable luxury and TikTok's influence on what we buy is fuelling growth for New Zealand fragrance house Maison&Muse and will see the brand launch at the world's largest retailers in 2024.
Founded in October 2021, Kiwi entrepreneurs Grant Taylor and Renee Lee created Maison&Muse to bridge the gap between department stores and supermarkets, offering elevated home fragrances where you shop most frequently for a fraction of the cost.
The brand is behind the cult-favourite 'Marilyn' candle, scented with Wild Vanilla & Caramel, that went viral on TikTok across Australia and New Zealand and took the media by storm. This catapulted the brand to become the #1 sold candle in Australia and to be loved by girls, including Pia Meulenbeck and Skye Wheatley.
In 2024, Maison&Muse will launch into 3,400 Walmart and Target stores across the United States with a new car fragrance and home cleaning line. First to launch will be the carefully curated car fragrance range to bring the elevated fragrance experience that people expect for their homes into their cars.
Grant Taylor, Renee Lee
"There are 96 Million cars in the US registered to women. However, until now, the mainstream car fragrance market has either masculine or very colourful, childish designs", said Renee Lee, COO and co-founder.
"This created an opportunity for Maison&Muse to bring in new customers to the category that haven't been catered for yet, which resonated with Walmart and Target."
This range will also launch at Woolworths Australia in May 2024.
Maison&Muse is also launching superior fragrance experiences into the cleaning aisle through a new range of spray cleaners and dish liquids. The range is designed to elevate this mundane chore into something luxurious and sensory, achieved through fragrance collections inspired by iconic women from history.
Launching into the United States has always been Maison&Muse's north star to showcase New Zealand's world-class design.
"At 25 weeks pregnant, I jumped on a plane to the States to get face-to-face with these global retail giants last year, which was instrumental for our business. The success of our launches into the USA will be a game changer for our company, and we hope that our expansion fuels the uptake of Kiwi-owned products in one of the world's most robust economies."
In just three short years, Taylor and Lee are responsible for developing a portfolio of four brands under the start-up MOXX Brands, which now boasts distribution at over 6000 stores across four countries.
In addition to Maison&Muse, MOXX Brands has developed Everblue, New Zealand and Australia's 1st Climate Positive liquid hair care and named 'New Zealand's Best Natural Shampoo and Conditioner' in the prestigious Best of Natural Awards.
Restor is a plastic-free laundry and cleaning concentrate that has saved almost one million single-use plastic bottles from landfills and is now the number-one Laundry Detergent Sheet sold in Australia and New Zealand.
ATOMIC, a laundry capsule brand launched only a few months ago, is already distributed in New World, Pak'n'Save and FourSquare across New Zealand. Sights are set in Australia for 2024.
The fast growth has been challenging. From overcoming COVID supply chain disruptions, pitching brands over Zoom calls and building a team from the ground up, Grant Taylor, CEO and co-founder, said MOXX's growth has been incredibly exciting.
"We're constantly asked what we put our success down to. I think the team's resilience and ability to find creative solutions quickly and challenge the norm on how you design and market consumer goods is our competitive advantage," said Taylor.
