WHEN PEOPLE ARE SMILING,
YOU FORGET THE RECESSION BLUES!

And baby makes three: Baby Nicoletta Mazarakis attends her first Atlanta Market with mom and dad Angel and Steve Mazarakis of Hellenic Rug Imports. Nicoletta was born at the end of November. Congrats to the proud parents.

Neil Battle, second right, Surya sales rep in the Chicago area, greets this jolly crowd from Peerless Imported Rugs of Chicago. From left: Philip Liss, Debbie Meader, Battle, and Brian Gilbert. On an historical note, we've been covering Peerless since our days as managing editor of Floor Covering Weekly, and Phil has never lost his enthusiasm for the industry.

Lee Harounian, center, a principal of Harounian Rug Imports, welcomes David Buffington, left and Dan Rucker, right, of Brentwood Interiors, Brentwood, TN.

At Kas, from left to right: sales rep Thomas Johnson; Jay Kumar of Carpet & Rug Superstore, headquartered in Charlotte, NC; Brandon Culpepper, Kas national sales manager, and Hari Tummala, Kas executive vice president.

 Sheila Altenstadter, regional sales manager, left, and Doug Ernewein, vice president of product development, right, welcome Stephen and Shannon Hobbs of Lexington's Magic Carpets, Lexington, KY

Satya Tiwari, right, president of Surya, greets  Dave Lammers , left, and Sam Presnell of The Rug Gallery, Cincinnati.

Jim Thompson, left, vice president of Central Oriental division of Natco Home, with Masoud Pirouz of Caspian Rug Co., Norcross, GA.

 United Weavers Cindy Kottwitz of Galleria Furniture in Oklahoma City with Samir Abu Hadba, general manager of United Weavers.

David Moss, sales agent for Jaipur with our old friends Gerald and Carla Gerami of Rug Gallery by Gerami's, Lafayette, LA. Gerald and Carla really worked this market. Seems like we ran into them in nearly every showroom.

Colors of India, the film produced by Samad Bros.l to show the beauty and craftsmanship of handknotted rugs, played continuously at the company's booth. One of the most popular spots on the temporary floor, the film  generated a lot of industry interest. From left: David Samad and Malcolm Samad, principals of Samad Brothers; Stephanie Schlund of Samad and Peter Fleigner, general manager of Care & Fair, Hamburg, Germany. Fleigner is also the general manager of the European Carpet Importers Association.

Kaleen  Grey Christie, center, Kaleen territory manager, center, with Stacy Thomas, left, and Diane Yates of Bass's Tradition House, Moultrie, GA.

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