Life smells sweet for TCU alum Fares Lahoud ’74. Drive down Fort Worth’s Southwest Boulevard, and all noses will lead to his store, Parfumelle.

Lahoud’s specialty perfume shop carries more than 3,000 fragrances from all over the world, particularly Europe. His store has been mentioned in most of the major fashion magazines. He and his staff receive calls from people all over the world, searching for a lost fragrance or a scent made just for them.

But if you had told the Lebanese native he’d be making a living using his nose, he would have laughed, considering he originally came to Fort Worth to become a commercial airline pilot. He was living with a host family, Dick and Edna Martin ’53 (now deceased), who recommended he try TCU after his pilot career never got off the ground. He then changed his dream to becoming an ambassador.

“There were only six of us with an international affairs degree at the time,” he said.

Following graduation, he returned to Lebanon with his fiancé and fellow Horned Frog, Nanda Barrett Lahoud ’79. The two traveled to Paris to begin an export business there, but when the Parisians were no help, Lahoud found friends when he returned to the home of his alma matter. His export business here thrived, and one of the items he traded was fragrances.

“The exchange rate was so unbelievable,” he said, “and I saw a niche market there and started bringing in fragrances.”

Once he had children — his son played soccer for TCU and graduated last year — Lahoud decided to settle into the community and opened Parfumelle in 1984. His most successful move in the early days was taking advantage of the Giorgio! perfume craze. He purchased it retail from Bloomingdales, where the perfume was exclusively sold, added a $5 up charge, and made it available to local customers. Today, the store carries more than 3,000 lines of men’s and women’s fragrances, primarily European. But Lahoud prides himself on the store’s largest commodity: knowledge.

“Knowledge is knowing your fragrances and how to prescribe people something,” he said, explaining a unique perfume analysis service he offers. Fill out a questionnaire on his web site (www.parfumelle.com) and voila! Lahoud will personally choose six fragrances suitable for you.

Looks like in Lahoud’s case, the nose knows.