A YORK city centre shop is celebrating the sweet smell of success after 125 years of business.

Burgins Perfumery, in Coney Street, was originally established by a Mr Burgin as a chemist and perfumery in 1880.

Although the premises had been a chemist and perfumery since the 1700s, the Burgin name stuck when the Wright family took over in 1934, and latterly the Yeos eight years ago. June Yeo and her husband, Leonard, say the secret of their success is stocking old favourites such as Evening In Paris, which was originally bottled in Eiffel Tower packaging and was popular with older women during the Second World War.

The Yeos also stock perfumes like Magrisse and the Caron and Lalique fragrances, which can be difficult to obtain in department stores.

Mrs Yeo said: "We also have Acqua Di Parma, which was first made in 1916 and is still handmade like it always was.

"The original is unisex and in a yellow box because in 1916 most of the fragrances were colognes and everybody wore them."

Although Mrs Yeo has been in the trade all her life, her husband was a new recruit.

"He absolutely loves it, he really finds it fascinating," she said. "We get loads of mail orders from all over the world and we endeavour to get hold of something if we don't stock it."

They will celebrate the business's 125th anniversary with a raffle and free samples for customers.

Updated: 10:21 Tuesday, June 14, 2005