Rug lines expand range to offer one-stop choice

High Point— Rug vendors are rolling into High Point with renewed energy and confidence.

A few years ago, each rug company stuck to a niche, but now the term "one-stop shop" has become the battle cry of the rug business.

More and more rug producers are driving rugs into

This diversification comes after three years of hiccupping sales and free-falling prices. But now fortune's wheel seems to be on the upswing once again for the rug business. The Atlanta summer rug market was a surprise success and the New York Home Textiles Market was huge.

On top of that, retail sales spurted ahead in the normally soft summer months.

"The economy is not a barn-burner yet, but there are signs that business is picking up," said Leon Capel, president of Capel, which makes and imports rugs. "Inventory levels are loosening up at retail, and that's a very positive sign."

Diversification is a natural progression for such big companies as Shaw, Mohawk, Oriental Weavers, Sphinx and Natco-Central Oriental.

But privately owned, medium-sized companies such as Capel, Kas, Hellenic, Harounian Rugs International, 828 International and Mahdavi's also are getting in on the "one-stop" act. Many have developed both machine-made and hand-made lines and they are tailoring products to hit a specific end market.

Mohawk Home, a division of Mohawk Inds., is one of the major practitioners of the one-stop marketing approach, and the company keeps refining the concept. It has blanketed the mass-market and discount channels with its value-oriented tufted and woven products.

At the furniture, specialty and department store level, Mohawk Home's Karastan Rug division has long been a respected consumer brand. Now, Mohawk Home is moving more aggressively into the market's middle tier.

"Mohawk Select will be a new label aimed at furniture and specialty stores," said Merle Johnson, marketing manager for Mohawk Home. "The new products will be sold through Karastan sales representatives and will include such items as the new Raymond Waites collections, Susan Sargent and Thomas Kincade products."

After several seasons with limited exposure at High Point, the Mohawk Home brand will once again have its own showroom in High Point, Johnson said. "In April, with the kick-off of extensive Raymond Waites collections, we will have an even larger presence," she said.

At last month's New York Home Textiles Market, Shaw Rugs announced its new Shaw Living brand, which will create new home furnishings possibilities for the company.

"Now the company will offer a complete line of rugs for every room of the home," said Jeff Meadows, vice president of Shaw Rugs, a division of Shaw Inds.

Building on strengths

Even when vendors branch out into new distribution channels, they try to build on existing strengths.

Oriental Weavers USA, for example, is known for its fashion and color leadership in room-size rugs. "Our new washable and accent rugs are unique," said Steve Stultz, senior vice president.

In High Point, OWA is making a major launch with its Woolrich- licensed rugs. The three collections will be woven of nylon, polypropylene and wool. OWA was a pioneer in making polypropylene rugs, so wool is a major departure for the company.

The Woolrich wool rugs will come from Oriental Weavers mills overseas.

Capel is best known as one of the oldest continuing makers of domestically produced braided rugs. That's still a major part of its business, but now the company also is having some promotionally priced braid items produced in China, according to Leon Capel.

In addition, Capel said the company continues to grow its hand-tufted and hand-knotted rug business in the medium and upper price points.

Central Oriental, a division of Natco Home, began manufacturing rugs in Maine this year, after a decade as an importer of medium-priced and high-medium-priced room-size rugs. Natco is a leading supplier of rugs and home textiles to the mass-market channel, but Central is not getting into the washable rug business at this time, according to President Mark Ferullo.

"We are building on our strengths and want to make sure we are in a strong stocking position in existing lines. Service continues to be the name of the game," said Ferullo.

Kas Oriental Rugs recently expanded into the washable hand-tufted rug business.

"As we continue to develop new channels of distribution, we are bringing in new accent rug products that have multiple uses," said Joan Catello, national sales vice president. "Several of our accent rug programs are a mix-and-match story. They coordinate with our room-size rugs for a coordinated look."

Diversifying into the mass market is not for everyone. At Nourison, the company continues to build business with department and specialty store customers.

"We are not interested in getting into mass-market channels," said Rita Karmiol, Nourison's executive vice president. "Our aim is to become even more important to existing customers. Department stores in particular have many product niches that we can fill."

New retail targets

Harounian Rugs International, long known as an importer of high-end, hand-knotted rugs, is enlarging its assortment and expanding its target audience. The company is introducing products aimed at both the large multi-store chains and furniture, department store and rug specialty stores.

"We are changing the look of our High Point showroom to reflect the present market conditions," said Lee Harounian, a company principal. "People are looking for good quality and good value, and those are the rugs we want to feature prominently."

High Point buyers this market will be seeing the first domestically produced machine-made rugs from Mahdavi's. The company, which is primarily an importer, now has two looms running at its Atlanta headquarters and two more will be in production in the next few months. Mahdavi's also recently introduced a large collection of value-oriented accent rugs.

Like many other multi-tier companies, Mahdavi's is pin-pointing products at specialized retail channels. "For High Point, we think our hand-tufted wool and silk rugs, and our Nepalese hand-knots will be best sellers," said President Mark Mahdavi.

"We expect that the fourth quarter will be huge, and the first quarter will continue the upward momentum," he said. "Customers have told us that business is picking up. They're looking for new looks and merchandising ideas."

Hellenic Rug Imports has begun shipping out of its new headquarters in Calhoun, Ga, opening the doors to further expansion beyond its base of imported rugs. The product line now includes broadloom carpeting, wood and rug underlay, according to President Steve Mazarakis.

Hellenic chose the economic doldrums as a time for serious expansion. "The last two years have been gloomy, but that was just a temporary setback," Mazarakis said. "The economy is picking up and the market needs fresh new products. I see the change at the retail level already. Buyers are making mistakes of under-ordering. That's a sign that something good is happening."

United Weavers' sales have risen in each of the last three months, according to Samir Abuhadba, general manager of the machine-made specialist.

"Our growth has been in the high double-digits because people are finding that we can deliver on time," said Abuhadba. "We currently are in a stocking position on all our products. With the economy on the upswing, that is more important than ever."

While many vendors have branched into popular-priced products, Momeni is building on its long experience as an importer of hand-made, one-of-a-kind rugs.

"We're observing a lot more enthusiasm than we've seen in the last few years," said Austin Craley, vice president of sales and marketing. "Our hand-tufted business continues to grow, but the Iranian and Pakistani hand-knotted business is an area that offers plenty of growth opportunities, particularly for our High Point customers."