05062015 Best of High Point Market

The country's top rug companies helped set the tenor of interior design for fall and winter at last month's spring edition of High Point Market.  In their reports of best-sellers to RugNews.com, we found looks that have become enduring must-haves in any retail lineup, among them blue and grey color stories and distressed, vintage finishes.  Emerging trends are the revival of Persian designs, albeit in refreshing palettes and new pattern extrapolations. Also on the rise are jewel-toned rugs, and special effect rugs inspired by nature, astronomy, and digital art. 

Buyers continued to respond positively to innovative textures and trendy fashion in the all-weather rug category, which is a growing winner with consumers for use indoors and out. Finally, many of this spring's best sellers scored because of a winning combination of value and style, with machine made polypropylene rugs continuing to elevate in status with their designs and textures.  Here, from each of the companies that responded to our survey, is a synopsis of the Best of High Point Market.

CAPEL RUGS

At Capel, hits included Yazzie, a collection of double-washed Persian designs ($2,049 for 5'6" x 8'6"); Soho, an indoor-outdoor series of fun patterns in bright multi-colors ($249 for 5'2" x 7'6"); and Parterre, a hand loomed wool rug from the Williamsburg collection combining cut and low pile for high/low detailing ($649). "Retailers were shopping for fresh styles with creative colors and textures to generate excitement this summer and fall," said Cameron Capel said. "Our latest introductions, which ranged from luxurious hand knots to nature-inspired outdoor designs, drew an enthusiastic response both for fashion and for value."

KALEEN

"We had such a great High Point market," said Ty Strader, vice president of e-commerce and marketing at Kaleen. "Our product assortment has nearly quadrupled in less than two years and it's exciting to see the new opportunities this has allowed us to capture. With over 230 indoor-outdoor rugs, we have one of the largest offerings in this category in the entire rug industry."

"We keep hearing over and over, the rug market has become so saturated with neutrals and washed out design and color. Buyers tell us Kaleen is a breath of fresh air because of our ability to take risks on new color combinations.  We are now becoming a destination because of the various price points and color assortments throughout our lineup," Strader said.  He reports market hits were all-weather collections Five Seasons ($129) machine made in Turkey of polypropylene and Brisa ($249) a flatweave handmade in India of polyester.  Another best-seller was the Casual collection ($319), which is hand-tufted of premium wool.

FEIZY RUGS

"We are seeing a real movement towards updated traditionals through new, more modern color ways," said Kim Vance, vice president of marketing and communications at Feizy, noting that "the blue and grey color story has lots of traction." The hand-tufted Eaton collection in New Zealand wool features classic Persian and Indian designs culling from the weaving centers of Tabriz and Agra ($671).  Trending toward tribal, the Ustad collection is hand knotted in India with an antique washed, hand-spun, premium pure wool pile in classic patterns but updated palettes ($2,059 for 5'6" x 8'6").

AMER RUGS

The jewel tones of the Amber collection were a hit with customers at Amer Rugs, according to Joe Barkley, Amer's vice president of sales and marketing. One best-seller from the new collection is Rainbow, a hand-woven rug made from wool and saree silk ($300) "received a lot of positive feedback from customers," he said. Another market hit was an orange and off-white hand-knotted, 100-line Indo-Tibetan rug from the Mount Route collection. Made from New Zealand wool and raised art silk, it retails at $2999 for the 6x9 size. Buyers were looking for texture and color, Barkley said, and the company's new Joy collection rug in teal ($1699, 6x9), featuring a Soumak weave with raised viscose on the pattern was "our show stopper," he explained.

HRI - Harounian Rugs International

"Market was very good for us: all of our premarket worked paid off and we not only met with all of our appointments but also worked with a record number of new accounts.   Orders were written and the strong trend from the January markets continues," said Greg Jordt, executive vice president, HRI.  Of the company's market hits, he reported, "Two looks that were very strong for us in High Point were "Rustic-Lux" and "the Blues" (the interior designer color of the year)."  Hits in the company's rustic-lux category were two hand-knotted wool collections from India: Antique Natural ($639) and Canterbury ($799).  "From our very successful Blues collection is Elegance, a hand-knotted collection from India" [$1939 for 6x9].

KAS

"The Spring High Point show had great energy this year.  Buyers were glad to be updating their floors with bright color and texture," said Wendy Reiss, vice president of sales and national accounts at KAS.  "Indoor-outdoor and natural categories were a big hit, as well as distressed looks, transitionals, and striking florals.  Our new pillow introductions for Fall were also well received with shag and foiled metallic looks getting nice reactions.  We had good traffic and opened up new accounts," she added, noting that the Donny Osmond Home indoor-outdoor Escape collection got a great response ($349) in High Point.  Other hits were Marbella, a hand-hooked wool collection with random shearing texture ($349 for 5x7) and Samara a hand tufted wool line with softly colored, textured yarn ($549). Reiss said new pillows from Donny Osmond Home were well received ($59.99).

LOLOI

Anastasia by Loloi has garnered market favorite status, primarily because it delivers the look of a fine handmade rug at "an unbeatable price point," said Cyrus Loloi, a principal at Loloi Rugs. Power loomed in Egypt of polypropylene and polyester, Anastasia offers intricate detail, lustrous colors and ornate character ($629).  Loloi saw continued interest in distressed looks at market.  In addition to Anastasia, the Cyrus collection of distracted sumac weave rugs is hand-knotted of 100 percent viscose from bamboo.  Intentional break in the pattern, give the luxury look of a worn antiques. Inspired by fine traditional rugs, but with updated designs, hand and color for modern interiors, the Imperial is hand-knotted collection presents traditional patterns in fashion colors and high sheen.  These patterns were hits at market because, "our dealers are always looking for new textures, new constructions and new materials," Loloi explained.

MOMENI

"We had several introductions that were really great," said Stephen Hoberman, vice president of sales at Momeni. "The Kerman collection had a lot of great things going for it. It's a distressed-style traditional, which is very hot right now in fashion colors like greys and blues to give the patterns a fresh new look" [machine-made, $299]. "Buyers also reacted nicely to the Millenia collection, which uses a viscose yarn but in a high pile rug.  It's a very hefty hand-tufted look with a nice sheen, and nice muted combination of color blendings that give the designs a very current transitional look [$599]," Hoberman said, noting that additional buyer favorites were the hand-knotted wool Terra collection and Momeni's one of a kind rugs from Pakistan, Afghanistan and, hand-knotted in India.

NOURISON

Nourison reports that the Twilight collection did very well at High Point market, especially TWI12 in ivory grey. Twilight is loom woven of wool and Luxcelle 2 in dappled neutral colors and abstract designs imbued with subtle sheen ($2,399). Another best seller, the new Nightfall collection is also loom woven of wool and Luxcelle 2 in saturated rich hues in a choice of over dyed and distressed damask patterns ($2,399). Nourison's new hand-knotted Aldora collection was well received as was the hand-tufted Intermix collection by Barclay Butera, which combines transitional palettes with space dyed wool yarns ($799 for 5x7). Butera's play on texture with cut and loop pile and subtle graphic designs was a market highlight.

ORIENTAL WEAVERS

Oriental Weavers added a whopping 100-plus new rugs - both just-introduced and extensions of established collections - to its High Point Market lineup. "High Point is always a good market for us," said Oriental Weaver's Jonathan Witt. "This was the first time these buyers saw more than 100 new introductions that were very well received in Atlanta and Las Vegas, and they did extremely well in High Point, too."

Among the best received was the Tommy Bahama Maddox collection, made of hand knotted wool with a soft texture in neutral colors ($899). New for High Point, OW added two indigo and ivory offerings to the collection. With the popularity of shades of blue currently in the marketplace, these two new additions are sure to do well at retail. The successful Tommy Bahama program was broadened with the addition of the new indoor-outdoor out hand-hooked Atrium collection (made in China, $299 for 5x8). Also for the in/out category came the machine-made flatweave Sanibel (made in Egypt, $129 in 5x8), which features simple designs and contemporary colors such as light aqua, lime, poppy or charcoal, in designs crafted of  polypropylene space-dyed yarn for an added visual interest.

SAFAVIEH

"This was a great show for Safavieh. Our clients were very pleased with the variety of colors, textures and the yarn innovations in our new collections," said Arash Yaraghi, a Safavieh principal. "The Centennial collection in particular continues to be well received, and so we were excited to showcase new designs. Our new Turkish collections were also popular, especially the Passion collection which was a favorite among designers. We brought a variety of products to the show, from furniture and accessories, to indoor and outdoor rugs," said Arash Yaraghi, a principal at Safavieh.  The Centennial collection is hand knotted in India of silk and wool and has been released in celebration of Safavieh's 100^th anniversary ($11,800 for 6x9).  The popular Centennial 100 series is hand woven of wool and bamboo silk ($1999 fir 6x9).  The Passion collection is machine-loomed in Turkey of enhanced polypropylene to create a vintage lost-weave appearance ($590 for 5'1" x 7' 6").

SURYA

Surya says it worked with 2,500 customers and prospects from across the globe in its showroom this High Point Market. Buyers responded very well to the new art merchandising program and the Made to Order Rug program. According to Lynne Meredith, vice president of product development at Surya, the company saw a strong response to its trend vignettes this market. Particularly well received was the Structure trend, "which features the use of fabric manipulation and interesting constructions and material combinations to create texture and dimensionality. The Vagabond trend with its well-traveled, Bohemian look-and-feel and rich palette of dusty blues, rust and Pantone Color of the Year Marsala also caught the attention of many showroom visitors, as did rugs with erased, distressed designs that evoke a vintage feel," she said.  

The Mandela rug is hand knotted in India of jute ($590 for a 5' x 7'6" rug). The Temple rug is hand-tufted in India of viscose and wool ($1,620 for 6x9). "Overall, there seemed to be lots of interest in textural effects and more muted hues, although bright, geometric looks remained popular with many buyers," Meredith explained.

TAYSE

"This market was great for us," said Laila Bohac, e-commerce manager. "We met with many of our e-commerce and wholesale buyers and had the opportunity to meet new customers as well. Overall we saw an increase in the number of visitors to our booth by almost 30 over last April's market. Garden City was our most popular. It's a polypropylene machine made outdoor collection, but buyers wanted them for indoors too. Terra was the color people liked the most," Bohac said.

NULOOM

"What did best for us at this show was our new Chloe Collection. The color alone really pulled people in. We received many comments about the rugs being almost like murals or tapestries hanging on the wall. No one had seen anything like it in area rug form before.   The fine details and character from the original tiles in the print appealed to buyers - they really look exactly like actual tiles. The rugs are printed to keep the fine details and natural flaws of the original tiles that were found in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Iran," said Nuloom's Kate Koesterer.  The Chloe collection is crafted of nylon and printed in Turkey. Retail for a 5x8 rug is $199.

RUG MARKET AMERICA

"Although we presented introductions from our indoor Maison Collection to our baby and youth lines, it was outdoor rugs that created the most excitement throughout the spring High Point market," said Andrew Shabtai, vice president, The Rug Market America. "Once again, we were able to provide retailers with a designer option in the outdoor rug category. We find that consumers often play it safe with their outdoor furniture and want to make a statement with an accessory like an outdoor rug. We had what they wanted."  New designs in the weather-resistant polyester Resort collection include the Floral Whimsy rug and Ocean Creek, a tile-like design.

05.06.15