Stéle co-founders, Jake Levy and Matt Belanger, never intended to create the buzziest independent fragrance boutiques in NYC, but in roughly 12 months, they have managed to do just that.
Their debut store at 339 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was initially intended to be a creative studio for Levy, CCO, who has a background in interior design. Opened in April 2024, it was followed by a larger location at 179 Mott Street in the Nolita neighborhood of New York City in January 2025.
CEO Belanger started out in digital strategy and communications, a skill that came in handy for creating the retailer’s online presence. Two industry outsiders, they only knew the world of scent by visiting the Odin New York boutique. “That was our reference. We didn’t know this world existed,” Levy said. “We were welcomed instantly by it, which gave us that energy to keep going,” Belanger added. “There's an ease of collaboration that I didn't experience elsewhere.”
The company’s name, which means "an ancient stone monument," draws on both founders’ stone masonry heritages. Levy’s family has worked in the craft for over a hundred years, while Belanger’s family has been involved in stone masonry, interior design, and building for three generations. “It's an amalgamation of both of our lives, creating a really special experience for everyone,” Belanger said.
Both locations are doing nearly equally well, with the new NYC venue slightly outperforming the Brooklyn venue, but “not by much,” said Levy. Belanger described it as a week-by-week shift. Sales are generally split evenly between the brand’s two locations and online presence.
Each boutique has a unique curation of brands (approximately 80 between both of them), giving customers a reason to visit both despite their close proximity. “We’ll see people [at NYC location] with our shopping bags and ask how they got them, and they just came from the Williamsburg store,” Levy said. Aside from attracting a new clientele, the second location opening was also due to needing more space, not just for the store’s assortment but also for events. The retailer’s core customer between both is the same, although Levy describes the demographic at the Nolita location as being more tourist-heavy while spanning across generations.
“We designed them as one store. That's the living room, this is the sanctuary. Even the design, this one is a bit more grand, that one is more cozy and jewel box,” Levy said.
That grandness manifests in rows of grey and black marble countertops, brown cowhide rugs, and soft cream armchairs. Thanks to having prebuilt their second location, the duo built their Nolita venue in a month and a half. “I love the Williamsburg store, and there's something really special about that. It's very cozy. ” Belanger said.
The interior aesthetic is extravagant and luxe, but the sales team is warm and welcoming—a rare and challenging balance in the world of fragrance retail. On the shelves, you will find indie darlings from across the globe: more established names like Matière Premiere and Trudon, but also more recent debuts like Vyrao and Urania.
The two work closely with brand founders, be it on product orders or event and launch planning. The store recently hosted the launch of Arquiste's newest scent, Tropical. “We are an independent brand as well, so there's a lot of kinship there,” Belanger said.
The founders bring in new collections throughout the year. “What gets us really excited is when we find something that's a complete thought. The fragrances have an ambition and a story behind them. Aesthetics—we like to make sure it fits within our curation and also with the mood. We’re always thinking about the future,” Belanger said.
The two also spend time testing each fragrance, with almost 150 fragrances on their personal rotation, testing six fragrances a week. They see it as a key tool in being able to accurately convey the performance and lasting power of a scent to the customer. “We want to know the product. We don't focus on numbers and bestsellers. We focus on what we love,” Levy said.
In April, they celebrated the launch of their new collection, called A New Sea, by shutting down the brand’s online presence and retail displays to completely relaunch with the range of over 115 fragrances. The range was released with a message of exploration into uncharted territory and bringing to life the evolving scent journey both they and their customers have been on. It included brands like Tada Parfumeur, the brainchild of Thai perfumer, Tada Archawong, which made its US perfumery debut at the store.
“We like to create moments rather than capitalize on them,” Belanger said. “We cut off our stream of purchase from both locations in a single day, which is such a gutsy move to do,” Levy said. “The next day we had our biggest sales day ever.”
This month, the retailer launched the Czechoslovakian brand Pigmentarium exclusively. “There are exclusive brands, but we don't believe in exclusivity in general,” Levy said. “We like democratizing things. But sometimes, when we bring in a brand from very far, we ask them to give us a month to help kick it off.”
Today, there are over 600 fragrances in the Stéle ecosystem. Rarity, not price, defines luxury within that curated cosmos. “The most any brand here really produces is 3,000 [bottles]. We're talking micro growth, people who are putting their heart into these products. This is luxury, not the manufactured thing at $283 or $700 that everybody has,” Levy said.
It’s also about looking into brands or launches from the past, not only the newest of the new. Belanger noted a fluctuating seasonality of bestsellers, and the store’s online presence doesn’t even include a bestsellers section or search option.
Levy is surprised by the experimental fragrances doing “extremely well” in sales, like Wolf Brothers, a Polish fragrance house with animal and nature-inspired fragrances (think creations like Deer and Boar), heavy on leather, musks, and deep woody notes. “It’s not a product that anyone can buy. It takes a certain amount of fragrance knowledge and experience to appreciate what these guys did over here.”
Places like Stéle are a refuge for olfactory explorers and a physical space where the fuse for perfume passion can ignite. Belanger also spoke to the importance of feeling and intuition-led discovery in the age of note databases and perfume experts.
“You see this ‘light up’ face when someone gets excited by a fragrance. Or when they come back, I always say the ones that haunt you are the ones you need. It's a beautiful experience that you want to chase and you want to get back.”
Levy and Belanger identify florals, especially those with a “dirty” or other interesting dimension, as a “massively bubbling space” with 6 to 8 of every 10 customers asking for the genre. “I say it's florals with permission because everyone thinks florals are your grandma's stuff. Is it a smoky floral? Is it a guava floral?” Levy added. “When you talk about creativity and artisan quality of fragrances, we are at a moment of renaissance. We're at a moment when we are about to explode. When talent has reached a new arc. We are seeing fragrances that are just so well blended, so beautifully done. Some of them are picture perfect.”
He cites the “photorealistic” Dandelion by Perfumer H as one example; or Cereale, a vision of a future with bread scarcity, or Cero, a nod to Y2K pandemonium with hot fax machine notes, by Chicago-based fragrance house Agar Olfactory as another.
The Nolita boutique is near other multibrand independent boutiques like Aedes de Venustas, Osswald, and Scent Bar (as well as branded boutiques like Le Labo, Mizensir, and D.S. & Durga ), but it’s a space of community, not competition.
“It's really helpful because we all carry different things. If there's something very specific they [customers] are looking for and can't find [with us], we are happy to recommend another store. They do the same for us as well. I can't tell you how many [customers] we refer to each other,” Levy said. “We were nervous about that part but were welcomed.”
If anything, the only challenges the retailer faces come from certain brand sides, Belanger noted. “Some brands are built against small businesses. Their whole concept and building are exclusionary, making it very difficult for small businesses to operate. We find that for the most part, we have been blessed to deal with really special people who have helped us get to where we are today.”
Belanger noticed organic content growing from Stéle’s community. “We have a very supportive community, both from a purchase perspective, but also supporting what we're doing.” Members have even flown in from out of state to attend the retailer’s events, like a May 15th event with podcaster and comedian Emma Vernon from The Perfume Room. The founders hosted a discussion with Vernon and Givaudan Vice President of Fragrance Creation Rodrigo Flores-Roux, to celebrate Florstalgia, Givaudan’s week-long pop-up reimaging seven classic floral notes. “It's the first time that a perfume house like Givaudan has ever worked with a retail store, which I'm very honored by,” Belanger said.
In the last quarter, Stéle’s business grew by 14%, despite a slowdown due to concern around political and economic uncertainty. Levy predicted this quarter will be even stronger. “We're already seeing a very good strength in the market. We see excitement and enthusiasm, the shopper returning.”
For the future, Levy is looking to expand the retailer’s assortment to include his own interior design objects. In the next year, they hope to stock only independently owned brands. The founders are self-funding their business.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Belanger said. A marathon with the mission of “continuing to bring humanity into the space,” Levy added. “We want to exude a positive environment. That sounds easy, but it's hard day in and day out. It's a real commitment.”
The two are hands-on in that commitment and have worked nonstop since the months prior to the Williamsburg location opening in April 2024. That level of involvement also gives them a market advantage in hearing what their customers are looking for and how to best service the fragrance aficionados of today and tomorrow. Stéle’s Instagram bio proclaims: “A new fragrance, for your new era.” Levy and Belanger are creating that era not just for those shopping online, but for the fragrance community at large—and with the perfumery renaissance on the horizon, those followers are looking for a space to flock to, whether on Bedford Avenue or Mott Street.
