Interview with Estelle Roth
We are a specialty perfume shop and the oldest and most extensive on the island, " says Mrs. Estelle Roth, proprietor of one of St. Thomas' most respected and established businesses. Roth, who has captained this family run and family begun business for over twenty years, remembers the birth and early years of Tropicana.
Mrs. Roth remembers, "My parents began this business in the early fifties in a small shop in the Pissarro Building (yes, the "Pissarro" as in the artist, Camille!). My father responded to the needs of US Navy seamen who were part of the Underwater Demolition Team. The sailors wanted perfume to take home to their mothers and sweethearts. My father went to Panama and bought the best perfume he could find. Now, of course, we import all of our products directly, but we continue to follow in my parents' footsteps in that we buy only the very best today!"
And at Tropicana the fragrance affectionado will find the very best perfumes the world has to offer. The shop is large and spacious, the aisles wide and uncluttered, an atmosphere which invites the customer to sniff, spritz and try several of the thousands of scents Mrs. Roth keeps on hand.
"We specialize in perfumes that department stores and specialty stores don't always have on hand," says Roth who maintains a treasure trove of classic fragrances that customers have come to know and love.
"One day a young man, about thirty or so began browsing through Tropicana," Roth remembers. "He tipped his head back and breathed deeply. 'That reminds me of what my mom wore when I was a little boy,' he said with a smile. An with his purchase of that long ago fragrance, he revived a pleasant memory as well!"