LOS ANGELES -- Capitalizing on its years of expertise in the wholesale and retail sides of the rug business, Los Angeles-based Art Resources will this week unveil its new private label website to furniture store buyers at the company's High Point showroom, space 294 in Historic Market Square.
Jack Simantob, an Art Resources principal, said the company has targeted mid-to better furniture stores since opening its 4,691 sq. ft. High Point showroom at the fall 2012 edition of High Point Market. "The online program is the next critical step in our strategy for this segment. We see a huge opportunity for furniture stores to provide their customers with beautiful rugs to complement their case goods and upholstery purchases. It creates a total home lifestyle capability and helps them compete with everyone from e-commerce retailers to chains like Restoration Hardware."
An antique Persian Kerman (c. 1930) rug, above, and a contemporary abstract design show the depth of options Art Resources offers on its website.
EXTENSIVE INVENTORY IN THREE LOCATIONS
Key to the program is Art Resources' inventory of 13,000 handmade rugs at three locations: its showrooms and warehouses in Los Angeles and Secaucus, New Jersey, plus in Salt Lake City, Utah, a 10,000 retail store and an additional warehouse.
"We are opening our inventory directly to furniture stores and carpet dealers both for brick and mortar and online sales. To do this, we've invested heavily in improving our own website [ArtResources.us] so that it is now one of the most user-friendly in the rug industry. We've also created a site called ArtisanRugs.com, which is a duplicate of our website, but can be marketed by our dealers as their own site.
"Today, with all the comparison-shopping on the Internet, dealers don't want to give out their sources. ArtisanRugs.com is designed to give dealers and their clients direct access to our full inventory with none of our contact information, but all of the tools they need to be successful in the rug category," Simantob says.
The ArtisanRugs.com website gives furniture stores and their customers access to Art Resources' full inventory of 13,000 handmade rugs.
SOPHISTICATED SEARCH FILTERS
"The growth of the internet as a distribution channel for rugs has become so significant that mid-to-better furniture stores need sophisticated search filters to be able to help their customers find the right style, size, color and shape quickly and easily," he continues. "We have 12 search filters covering attributes consumers are interested in, and they've been developed based on our years of working with customers in our Salt Lake City store. Have primary and secondary colors.
A series of filters allow the customer to quickly navigate the assortment to find a variety of rugs that fit the selected criteria.
"We know that customers first need to home in on shape and size. There is an age filter, if they are interested in an antique, semi-antique or vintage rug. Filling that in instantly gives results. In our programmed rugs, we have SKUs available in multiples for each size from 5x8 to 12x 18.
"And we carry oversized rugs in programmed collections -- which other dealers don't typically do. You can even source rugs available at each of our locations if you don't want to pay a lot of freight. The dealer search only for rugs in stock in L.A. or in stock in New Jersey, for instance."
What's more, the company uses QR codes on its samples for dealers, so customers can see all of these details, including how many are available. In stock rugs can be shipped for next day delivery, and the codes can even track orders and deliveries in real time.
FASHION AND TREND LEADERSHIP
Known as a global style leader, Art Resources was a winner of the prestigious Carpet Design Award in from Domotex for 2015 and a finalist in the 2016 competition. The company has earned numerous accolades for its design innovation, and fashion-forward collections.
The award-winning rug in the traditional Category at Domotex 2015, was part of the Classic Revival collection by Art Resources.
It is difficult for furniture retailers flooring dealers who are not immersed in the rug business to stay ahead of home fashion trends, and e-commerce has accustomed consumers to "fast-fashion" whether for apparel or home furnishings. Our fashion and color forecasting helps smaller stores keep up ahead of trends and compete with everyone from Restoration Hardware to exclusive designer rug showrooms.
The popular lodge look can be found on ArtisanRugs.com in the antique Navajo rug above and in an equally impressive new rug from the Southwest Collection.
