Embellished by flaming, red conga drums, the warm red and brown tones of Carlos Santana fragrance bottles, psychedelic sixties-inspired prints of Carlos Santana’s new CD cover, and deep forest exotic plant displays mixed with orange and yellow flower bouquets, the Carlos Santana special appearance stage area for his first ever Master brand Fragrance Launch Appearance exuded the strength of his spirit, the dramatic beats of his soulful music, and aroused the senses! of hundreds of star-struck fans.           

            Dressed in an all-white, classic suit in contrast to the deep, dark, bold colors of his stage area, music legend Carlos Santana and his wife and author Deborah Santana celebrated the introduction of Carlos Santana’s new fragrance for men and women at Dillard’s North Park Center on Saturday, October 1, 2005 from 12 noon to 2 p.m. Protected by his security guards, marketing staff, Victory International personnel (The Carlos Santana distributor), and Dillard’s executives, Carlos Santana personally signed his 3.4 oz Men’s Fine Cologne (sold at $55.00) and his 3.4 oz Women’s Eau de Parfum fragrance bottles (sold at $58.50). As a special Free Gift the consumers received a Carlos Santana T-shirt, embroidered travel kit, and a Carlos Santana guitar pick key chain with the minimum $75.00 purchase from Carlos Santana Men’s fragrance. With a minimum purchase of $75.00 from Carlos Santana Women’s Fragrance your Fee Gift is a special edition Carlos Santana hobo handbag, Carlos Santana tote container bag, and a Carlos Santana guitar pick key chain.

            Sitting proudly to his right is Deborah Santana, Carlos Santana’s lovely wife who partnered up with Carlos Santana to sign her new book, Space Between the Stars. According to Heather Boone, Area Sales Manager of Dillard’s NorthPark Center, Dillard’s had purchased 50 copies of the book just a few days ago and they were sold out of every copy in just 45 minutes! Space Between the Stars is a moving memoir written by Ms. Santana, who told me that her book is all about her life and the struggles that she has had to endure and overcome. “Space Between the Stars” is retailed at $24.95, but was specially priced at Dillard’s for just $20.00 a copy. This was Ms. Santana’s first department store book signing appearance for her new book.

            Surrounded by crowds of adoring, screaming fans, some who have followed Carlos Santana’s world famous music career for over 4 decades, also brought along guitars, Carlos Santana albums from the sixties, artwork of Carlos Santana, etc. in hopes that their music idol would also autograph their prized Carlos Santana memorabilia.

            I’ve been in the fragrance business for over 25 years and this is the most fun I’ve had because they (Carlos Santana and Deborah Santana) are such a great partnership! exclaimed LaVerne Rhodes, Dallas and Eastern Regional Manager for Victory International of NYC.

            Ms. Rhodes said Victory International is hosting three of Carlos Santana’s Master brand Fragrance Launch Appearances, which include Houston, Texas on October 3, 2005 at Foley’s Galleria and Downey, California on October 14, 2005 at Robinsons May. Victory International is also running supermodel celebrity Niki Taylor’s tour and personal appearances exclusively at Foley’s for her new perfume begin. This December 2005 Niki Taylor will be on the cover of Shape magazine, and will be making special guest appearances on Extra and Access Hollywood. Ms. Rhodes said that Niki Taylor has recouped from her car accident and is back!

            Ten percent of Carlos Santana’s Fragrance Launch Appearance will be donated to the Milagro Foundation, a charitable public foundation established by Carlos and Deborah Santana that makes grants to children in the areas of the arts, education, and health.

            Carlos Santana, the tender-hearted musician performed a concert at Nokia Live Theatre in < ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Grand Prairie, Texas the night before his Master brand Fragrance Launch Appearance and will be performing a second concert later this same evening. Mrs. Rhodes explained that proceeds from this concert and all of Carlos Santana’s concerts in Texas will go to the “Habitat for Humanity,” a Texas-based charity to benefit the Hurricane Katrina effort.

            According to Crystal Laubhan, Cosmetic Regional Business Manager of Dillard’s, over $20,000.00 of Carlos Santana Fragrances were sold for this first Carlos Santana Master brand Fragrance Launch Appearance. Of that, $5,000.00 worth of Carlos Santana Fragrances was pre-sold before the launch.

“This was such an exciting event and we are all so exhausted from all the excitement of the festivities, but it was well worth the work!” exclaimed Ms. Laubhan. “The store greatly exceeded expectations on sales for this intriguing event, and the fans were exceptional in their support.”

Ms. Rhodes supported the successful outcome of the event. “We expected a really good turn-out but you never know until it happens. We definitely met our goals.”