Signage is up for L’Occitane en Provence at 416 Columbus Avenue on the corner of West 80th Street.
After closing its two Upper West Side Locations in 2021, L’Occitane en Provence is making its Upper West Side comeback with a new location at 416 Columbus Avenue (at the corner of West 80th Street). Signage indicates a ‘Summer 2024’ opening at the site previously home to Scotch and Soda, which closed in May 2023.
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Known in short as L’Occitane, the luxury French unisex personal care brand specializes in body, face, and hair products, as well as fragrances and home products.
In January 2021, the company filed for bankruptcy with the plan to “reject certain [real estate] leases in order to right-size its brick-and-mortar footprint to better position itself for long-term success,” according to court papers. Currently listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, L’Occitane’s billionaire chairman and controlling shareholder, Reinold Geiger, announced he’s taking the company private in April 2024.
Previously located on the corner of 69th Street and Columbus Avenue, a site they operated out of for 31 years, L’Occitane was famously seen with Tom Hanks walking by in the movie You’ve Got Mail. Their other space was at 75th and Broadway.
In August 2023, L’Occitane became a certified B Corporation, meaning they are a brand committed to having a positive impact on people and the planet, with a focus on sustainability.
“B Corp certification measures and verifies our business’ entire social and environmental performance and ensures transparency and accountability,” states The L’Occitane Group’s website. “The certification not only highlights where we excel today – championing causes such as empowering the communities we invest in, preserving biodiversity, reducing waste, and mitigating climate change – but it also shows us where and how we can keep improving.”
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In early 2024, Byrdie, a beauty publication, tested every product in the L’Occitane portfolio and highlighted the brand’s artichoke body scrub as its best product. The review noted that while artichoke is a popular ingredient in French beauty products, it’s just beginning to gain traction in the United States. “The scrub has a delightful warming effect when massaged into the skin, and provides gentle, physical exfoliation without feeling harsh or scraping,” said Brydie.
Other top picks include their Body Gua Sha, used to sculpt and massage your skin, which promotes lymphatic drainage while releasing tension in the body, and their Immortelle Divine Youth Oil, a face oil that contains the brand’s proprietary immortelle ingredient —an antioxidant flower from Corsica, Italy. The oil is said to protect the skin from environmental damage while giving an immediate dewy glow.
