Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica & Justin Parr.
Hi Jessica & Justin, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
We have been in e-commerce for quite some time, largely working on third party platforms like eBay and Amazon, but also dabbling in standalone sites. Around eleven years ago, we had the opportunity to purchase an existing online business from Jessica’s parents, who had a small boutique in Joplin. The online portion of their business had lots of room to grow, and fit right into our wheelhouse of online marketing and SEO. We took the project on, and for the last decade we have been slowly curating a selection of niche luxury fragrance brands from all over the world. We strive to find brands that are uncommon, of high quality, and have a strong story. In December of 2025, we opened our first storefront on Main Street in historic downtown Weston.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I don’t think many things in business are smooth. When a plan goes as intended, this seems to be the exception rather than the rule. We’ve learned a great many lessons along the way, and the quicker you can adapt, the easier things become. The fact that we are a married couple in business together can be tough, but is ultimately really rewarding. We have always had a strong belief in betting on ourselves. Justin’s stepfather once told us that he knew we “would make it great, because we always do,” and that has stuck with us for years.
I would say one of the toughest aspects of starting your own business is filtering out the noise in regards to getting a “real job” or “this is the way things are done”. We believe paving our own path has been the most rewarding. Really, the hardest part of the first few years was in creating the new path and not falling back to one that’s “normal”. Fortunately, we are lucky enough to have been surrounded with family and friends who helped cheer us on along the way.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We curate niche fragrance brands from around the world. Our mode of operation in the new storefront in Weston is to bring in brands that people in the Midwest may not have access to experience in person. We carry brands that are available from very few retailers in the United States, primarily in coastal cultural epicenters. We have never tried to have the most trendy brands, but instead sought fragrance lines that had historic or unique origin stories. We have a soap company right now that was first founded in 1795, for example.
We are most proud of the reactions we get from people that come into the shop and begin experiencing these unique fragrance collections that they’ve never encountered before. It is an absolute rarity when someone is familiar with one of the fragrance houses we work with. It becomes less of a purchase and more of an experience.
We take great pride in the lines we’ve curated, and have longstanding relationships with many of them. From niche French perfume houses to Scandanavian skincare – we’ve tried to establish something special that just isn’t as widely available in our part of the world.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
We’ve been absolutely blown away from the Weston community in terms of supporting local business. This isn’t something you experience in the world of e-commerce. Community support, from residents and other small business owners has been heartwarming, to say the least. This is precisely why we chose this area, and the community has been amazing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://oakmanorfragrances.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oakmanorfragrances/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oakmanorfragrances/
