If you were asked what the name Rebul reminded you, undoubtedly most of you would recall the brand's fragrant lavender cologne. Today the brand offers many varieties but did you know that it all started in a pharmacy shop? Building concept stores under the name Atelier Rebul for a wide range of products including not only fragrances but also cosmetics today, Rebul has a very interesting past... The 120 years long well-rooted history of the brand begins in a pharmacy shop. After graduating from university as a pharmacist a Frenchman named Jean Cesar Reboul came to Pera in 1895. Falling madly in love with the neighborhood he opened the Rebul Pharmacy at Rumeli Han (commercial complex). Run as a typical traditional French pharmacy, Rebul soon stood out among its competitors and became very popular. In 1920, a young man named Kemal Müderrisoğlu who would later become one of the first pharmacists of the Early Republican Era, asked Jean Cesar Rebul for an internship. However he could not speak French and Jean Cesar Rebul was determined not to employ anyone who cannot speak the language. Faced with the cold fact, Kemal Müderrisoğlu ran to the French Consulate General, took French lessons for one year and mastered the language. Then he knocked on Jean Cesar Rebul’s door one more time for an internship interview and this time he got the job. Industrious and hard working, he soon became the star employee at the pharmacy while he and Jean Cesar Reboul grew closer in a father-son relationship based on trust. For that matter, although he had built the pharmacy himself, Jean Cesar Reboul changed the name to Kemal and Reboul Pharmacy. REBUL’S SIGNATURE LAVENDER COLOGNE Working together at the pharmacy laboratory Monsieur Reboul and Mr. Kemal came up with many firsts such as the first lavender cologne they made using the essence of lavenders in Jean Cesar Reboul’s garden. It became so popular that people began to use it as a perfume and soon wearing lavender cologne turned to be a must before going out and taking a walk in Beyoğlu. That cologne was Rebul’s first cosmetic product. Of course the duo did not just settle with creating a lavender cologne. They developed many creams, rejuvenating creams, lotions and similar cosmetic products at their laboratory. Moreover Rebul made history by producing Turkey’s first rejuvenating cream and first men’s perfume. Jean Cesar Rebul decided to move back to France in 1939 and handed over the pharmacy to Kemal Müderrisoğlu, who lettered out his name out of his deep respect to his master and continued to run the business under the name Rebul Pharmacy. THE BRAND THAT WROTE TURKEY’S PERFUME HISTORY The founder of the brand Kemal Müderrisoğlu worked on various products to widen the brand’s product range. After Mehmet Emin Müderrisoğlu took over the business, he developed Turkey’s first men’s perfume Silverline and Rebul’s signature lavender cologne was awarded with World Quality Control Medal. Today Rebul is run by fourth generation executives. Nüket Filiba, one of Rebul’s founding partners, underlines that the most important aspect of Rebul’s heritage was quality and trust. “As Rebul family we don’t produce anything we ourselves or our families would not use. This is why we never compromise on quality and trust while growing our brand” she says and adds: “Our brand has expertise not only in fragrance but also in skin care. We are a 120 years old brand but our formulas are modern. The only thing that dates from those years is our manners and how we conduct our business. We find the newest, state of the art raw materials. We search for the latest formulas. In that sense our 3rd generation executive Mehmet Müderrisoğlu has contributed a lot. He still runs our R&D department.” ACCESSIBLE LUXURY The brand has been opening new stores under the name Rebul Atelier since 2013. The tenth store was opened in last October at Kanyon (shopping center). Nüket Filiba says that they were planning to close the year with 12 new stores in total and aim to open 35 stores in 3 years. Adding that they were exporting Rebul products to 25 countries Filiba says: “We haven’t opened a Rebul concept store abroad yet. We want to strengthen the brand’s infrastructure in Turkey. We want to expand overseas only after our R&D department is strong enough in terms of product range.” The brand also attracts foreign investors. According to Filiba, they are planning to open their first concept store abroad in 2016 and the brand is drawing considerable interest especially in Northern Europe and the Middle East. “However we believe that the time is right. The brand attracts a lot of attention from investors. We plan to open our first store abroad in 2016. There are investors from North Europe and the Middle East. “The partner you cooperate with in these countries is very important. Of course we want to expand abroad with a partner. And that partner should really understand us and must be experienced in retail.” NEW MARKET STRATEGY FOR A HISTORICAL BRAND Rebul is well known as an expert in fragrance sector. When asked about the challenges of repositioning the brand in cosmetics, Nüket Filiba says: “Our customers come to our stores to experience our expertise in fragrances but once they come, they get to know our cosmetics products too. This is how we create brand loyalty for our new product segments. We offer home cosmetics, perfumes and technological body care products. Yes, some of our customers still come for our expertise in fragrance but the beauticians and employees at the stores inform them about our new products. When consumers buy our products they soon realize that these products are of the same quality with any foreign brand that they know of, since we use the same raw materials with world’s cosmetic giants.” It seems that we will be hearing more of the achievements of Rebul in the coming years. As Turkey’s first cosmetic brand Rebul’s deep rooted history is likely to build up trust for the future in the eyes of consumers too.