Founded as an apothecary in 1838, C. O. Bigelow Chemists has thrived into the twenty-first century as an unlikely, but very popular, combination of neighborhood drugstore and high-end beauty emporium. Its aisles are crowded with long-time local customers waiting for their prescriptions to be filled at the pharmacy, as well as visiting aficionados of luxury toiletries, hard-to-find home fragrance lines, and unusual perfumes.
Through an agreement with Limited Brands, the Bigelow brand name is used on newly developed products sold at Limited Brands’ various stores (Henri Bendel, Bath & Body Works), and Limited Brands has opened several shops under the C.O. Bigelow name in other cities. This original location, however, is still independently owned by the same family that bought the company in 1939…
A first visit to the 
For years, the fragrance department at Henri Bendel was a tempting but awkwardly placed niche at the rear of the crowded main floor. Now it occupies a prime spot on the second level: ascend the curving staircase, and you’ll find its expanded, highly browsable selection. The department is intimate enough to feel comfortable, but large enough to offer a rich variety, balancing classic houses Caron and Chanel, the established niche line L’Artisan Parfumeur (which occupies an entire in-house boutique at Bendel), and small, local company Aroma M Perfumes, to name just a few examples.