Mood jazzy at rug market
By Lissa Wyman -- Furniture Today, January 19, 2004
ATLANTA — Rug vendors are starting 2004 in a jazzy mood, with last week's International Rug Market the best in several years for both traffic and buying.
"2003 was a challenging year, but it could have been a lot worse," said Ron Couri, president of Couristan. "We are certainly going into the first quarter with a lot of optimism. Our customers had a strong fourth quarter and we were booked solid with market appointments."
This year promises to bring big changes for the rug industry's major players. Mike Riley, executive vice president of Sphinx, voiced the thought that's been on everyone's mind: "It's going to be a wild year."
Changes abound. Sphinx and sister company Oriental Weavers USA are merging. Shaw's rug business is now known as Shaw Living, and the company is moving aggressively into home textiles. Nourison continues to expand into new product areas. Mohawk, already a leader in home textiles, is strengthening its presence in the independent floor and furniture store sector.
Meanwhile, young companies such as 828 International Trading, Hellenic Rug Imports and Majestic Rugs are challenging traditional vendors with aggressive marketing tactics and value-driven products.
"This is the strongest January market in years for our industry," said Alex Peykar, a principal of Nourison. "We are headed in the right direction and the fact that the stock market is doing well provides a big psychological boost. We have very aggressive goals for our company in 2004."
In addition to adding new hand-made products, Nourison is exploring new product categories, such as home textiles.
While 2003 was generally described as "challenging," many majors said the year turned out all right. "We had a very strong year and I predict 2004 will be even better as the upward momentum continues," said Jeff Meadows, vice president of Shaw Living.
"Most buyers have finished the year with sales increases and they are looking forward to a very strong first quarter," agreed Sphinx's Riley.
Mohawk Home, which has specialized in mass market products, is turning to the medium price range with its new Mohawk Select label, according to Rocky Casteel, vice president and general manager of rugs and textiles.
"What defines this introduction from those in past seasons is the inclusion of styles for the independent dealer and furniture store retailers in addition to products developed for large-format retailers," he said.
The Mohawk Select collections will include licensed designs by Raymond Waites and Susan Sargent printed rugs.
The economic downturn of the past two years has put pressure on many rug producers to bring out lower-priced products. With the strengthening economy, there now seems to be renewed interest in better quality merchandise, said Reza Momeni, president of Momeni.
"As the economy improves, I think we will see more interest in better rugs. People have learned to love beautiful, inexpensive rugs. Consumers are ready to upgrade," he said.
Nader Emami, senior vice president and general manager of operations for Feizy, said new collections will be more focused.
"The economic slowdown gave all of us a time to pause and reflect on our strengths and weaknesses. Now that things are improving, we have emerged stronger and smarter," he said.
Last year brought expansion for Hellenic Rug Imports, which started six years ago as a flokati specialist. It moved headquarters from New York to Calhoun, Ga., expanded its showrooms and began marketing new products such as wood floors and rug underlay as well as adding hand-made and machine-made rug collections.
"We've got even more excitement planned for 2004," said President Steve Mazarakis. "We have several collections of value-oriented hand-knotted and hand-tufted products, as well as many one-of-a-kind rugs."
Majestic Rugs is a newcomer that began in accent rugs and is now expanding into larger rugs geared to traditional rug and furniture stores, catalogs and large specialty chains. It opened its first Atlanta space this winter.
"Our business began at the start of the economic downturn, and it made us smarter and sharper," said President Steve Couri. "With the improving economy, we are poised for dynamic growth."
