LAS VEGAS -- Buyers and designers rallied at last week's winter 2018 Las Vegas Market, with an upbeat vibe throughout the three-building World Market Center campus, and rug showrooms buzzing with activity.
"Sunday and Monday were better than I have seen in 10 years [at Las Vegas Market] -- not just for us, but overall traffic -- in the halls, the courtyard, and even on the Uber lines," declared Blake Dennard, senior vice president at Kaleen. Meanwhile, in Building A, Kami Navid of Jaunty told RugNews.com his showroom had been "incredibly busy" and that traffic was steady.
At HRI, VP Greg Jordt echoed that sentiment. "Market has been very, very strong. Traffic has been great -- both for designers and retailers," Jordt noted, "Sunday and Monday, we were slammed. Usually it's one day or the other for us, but this year it was both. Since moving to our new space [B433 in 2016], we've picked up a lot."
From celebrity designer launches to ribbon cuttings, educational events, parties and awards, there were plenty of opportunities to celebrate. Jaipur Living, now a master of the art of targeted designer events, scored with a cross-promotion with IvyMark, a business management tool and engaged community for interior designers, which has just been acquired by Houzz. Ivy's members swarmed Jaipur's showroom, browsing products while catching up with peers at a Sunday night party.
Highlights of the week were Feizy's 45th anniversary party (read full story) and Kerrie Kelly Coast to Coast launch, Nourison's event feting its Portfolio collection designers and a party headlined by Christopher Guy Harrison, always a magnet for customers (read full story).
Loloi floored market shoppers with its showroom expansion (read full story), and a commanding presence, now spanning across three prime spaces, which were packed throughout the four-day show. Other ribbon cuttings celebrated an expansive new showroom for Rizzy Home with plenty of space for its blockbuster Simply Southern license (read full story), and the first ever Las Vegas showroom for Bashian (read more).
In this two-part Las Vegas Market review, RugNews.com walks you through showrooms Amer to Kaleen in Part 1 below. For showrooms KAS through United Weavers, read Part 2 here. AMER
A new design from Amer Rug's best-selling Mystique collection is the backdrop as Susan Keis of Bellacor reviews the line with Tanuj Gupta and Dana Stevens of Amer. The hand-carved Mystique 25 in Polo Blue is hand knotted in India of hand-spun virgin New Zealand wool and raw silk.
The top-selling Amer Rugs introduction at Las Vegas Market, the new Laurel collection is hand tufted in India of blended natural New Zealand wool, with a random texture and quality tufting that scored with buyers. Shown in Turquoise Blue.
BASHIAN
On opening day of Las Vegas Market, just prior to the ribbon cutting for its first World Market Center showroom, Ralph Bashian of Bashian reviews collections with Brett Calhoun, buyer for Amazon Canada. They are standing on rugs from the new Vestige collection (read full story).
Bashian unveils a new silver colorway to this classic geometric design, part of the company's top-selling Greenwich collection which is hand tufted of wool and viscose.
CAPEL
Tom Perraud, Capel Regional Manager and John Stokes of Hagopian World of Rugs of Birmingham, Michigan, are posing in front of the Del Mar Bleu design, a Wilton weave of New Zealand wool from the rug maker's Metropolis collection.
Sapphire blue was a hit with buyers in Vegas, including Nebraska Furniture Mart's Pattie Wojtkiewicz and Dave Snedeker, here in front of a hand-knotted wool Capital collection design with Len Capel of Capel Rugs and David Chambers of Nebraska Furniture Mart.
COURISTAN
Steve Couri of Couristan and Phil Koufidakis, owner of Baker Bros.' seven stores in the Phoenix area, review the rug company's new look exhibited in an extensive lineup of new Vegas intros.
Ron Couri and Evan Couri of Couristan, Inc. segue from their World Market Center showroom to dinner at Zuma with Michelle Lefkowitz and Lauren Lefkowitz of ProSource of New England during Las Vegas Market.
Couristan amps up indoor outdoor rug design with the zero-pile Xanadu collection. The saturated colors with an over-dyed look in this machine-made range are part of the reason another Xanadu design was awarded the America's Magnificent Carpets Award in the indoor-outdoor category for 2018. DALYN
Todd Muntifering of Dalyn shows off the rug maker's lustrous new Antiqua collection to Las Vegas Market shoppers, Cassandra Tayler and Denise Renz of Waunakee Furniture Etc., Waunakee, Wisconsin. Antigua is machine made in Egypt of polypropylene.
The rich warm color palette in Dalyn's new Korba collection reflects a trend previewed at winter 2018 markets - one that is expected to grow as consumers look for new neutrals saturated with color to compete with blues and greys.
DYNAMIC RUGS
Dynamic Rugs appealed to buyers' fashion instincts with a new collection of printed cotton chindi rugs in four themes shown above from top to bottom: Floral designs, Terra wood and stone motifs, Shibori inspired designs and updated traditional designs with Boho flair.
The mosaic look in area rugs gained steam at winter markets in the U.S. and Europe, and Dynamic Rugs was right on point with designs from it debuting Mosaic collection machine made of chenille viscose in modern abstracts (shown), as well as literally translated historic mosaic tile floor patterns.
FEIZY
Dwayne Clark of DC Interior Design Management Group, Kerrie Kelly of Kerrie Kelly Design Lab, pose with Feizy's John Feizy, Kerry Hasselbach, Mike Riley and Cameron Feizy at the launch of the new Coast to Coast indoor outdoor collection designed by Kerrie Kelly for Feizy.
Feizy strengthens its focus on indoor-outdoor area rugs and sustainability with the Vegas debut of the Bermuda II collection. Handwoven of 100 percent recycled polyester (PET) yarns, the textural geometric patchwork designs are reminiscent of the company's hide and viscose Fannin collection's popular hand-sewn patterns.
HAROUNIAN RUGS INTERNATIONAL
Deo Jugmohan and Greg Jordt of HRI in front of the premiering hand knotted wool and viscose Celest rug collection with Margarita Laverde and Harry Laverde of H&A Discount Furniture of North Hollywood, California, and Lee Harounian and Bobby Shamsian of HRI.
The team at Allison Campbell Design of Orem, Utah takes a shopping break at HRI's busy Las Vegas Market showroom, posing on a lustrous hand-knotted abstract rug in wool and viscose from the Botanical collection.
JAIPUR LIVING
Jaipur Living hosts interior design members of IvyMark, which dubs itself 'a business management tool for designers by designers'. From left: Reisa Elden of Ivy in New York City, Chanda Seymour of Chanda Seymour Design in San Francisco, California, and Jeanne Chung of Cozy Stylish Chic, Pasadena, California.
Posing in front of Jaipur Living's trend display featuring new area rugs in shades of blue are Shannon Bradner of HB Design Canada, Alex McFadyen of Heffel Balagno, Canada, Shelly Meshwork of Global Views and Matt Peterson, Jaipur Living's trade show manager.
JAUNTY
Soft colors appealed to buyers shopping at Jaunty's Las Vegas showroom, including the hand-tufted Tuscany collection featuring wool pile with accents of viscose. Kami Navid and Larry Haines of Jaunty present the Tuscany line to Tina Lopez of Statement Furnishings in Las Vegas.
An abstract design from Jaunty's Soho collection [SO-14 Flame], checks off all the selling points for buyers at Las Vegas Market. The rug is hand tufted using quality wool combined with accents of viscose for luster.
KALATY
Kalaty grows its best-selling Oushak collection with new pattern arrangements and colorways like this indigo blue design that was a magnet for Las Vegas market shoppers. Farshad Kalaty with Keivan Hashemi and Leyla Hashemi of Palace Rug Gallery of Bellevue and Seattle, Washington, and Kalaty's Mirza Kalaty and Ramin Kalaty.
A big draw for Kalaty at winter markets were the company's hand-knotted abstract designs, and buyers gave an overwhelming thumbs up to this introduction, a modern mix of fashion colors, old world motifs with erased effects and high-low texture from the Horizons collection in wool and Silkette.
KALEEN
Buyers from Chartreuse in Los Alamitos, California and Urban Outfitters in Philadelphia take a lunch break after meeting with their Kaleen reps and checking out the rug maker's intros, Stesso, Amarantha and Ceneri.
Front and center at Kaleen's showroom, the Chancellor collection design honored with the 2018 America's Magnificent Carpets Award at the Atlanta International Area Rug Market in the hand-tufted $0-$16 per square foot price category.
Monty Rathi shows RugNews.com the new handmade Stesso collection, a winner at Las Vegas Market, which buyers liked for its combination of space-dyed wool yarns, uniquely constructed with cross-tufting and cut pile.