Michael Castell, Lavin director of sales
DALLAS -- As Dallas Total Home & Gift Market opens its doors from Jan. 7-13, 2026, Fort Worth-based rug company Lavin Rugs unveils its first Dallas World Trade Center showroom, space WTC 548.
The 3,500-square-foot showroom follows on the successful launch of Lavin’s High Point, North Carolina, showroom at HPMKT’s October 2024 event. For this exclusive Q&A interview, RugNews.com caught up with Lavin Rugs’ director of sales Michael Castell, who joined the company in September 2025, to discuss the company’s growth and product strategies and plans for 2026 and beyond.
RN: What’s the thought behind expanding from High Point to add Dallas Market to your roster of shows?
Lavin introduces Dallas Market shoppers to its new WTC 548 showroom.
MC: We launched the company in the U.S. just over a year ago and we've been steadily gaining traction. The goal really is to get more people in the door, more people to know who we are. We have great products, we have really aggressive pricing, and we like to pride ourselves on service -- basically treating each customer like they're our only customer.
RN: What is Lavin’s new product strategy?
MC: Right now, we're introducing new products twice a year at the High Point markets. So, we'll have new intros in April, and again in October 2026. Over the next year, we'll definitely be bulking up our newness.
Rugs have been around for 500 years. So there's not much that is really revolutionary in rugs at this point. What we're trying to do is make Lavin be a better value for our customers. And then, at the end of the day, the end consumer will benefit from that value. We’re really excited. We’re very motivated right now. Nothing's going to stop us!
RN: Where do you see Lavin’s niche in the industry?
Lavin targets interior designers and top 100 furniture stores as it eyes expansion.
MC: This business is big enough for a lot of operators. And we just want to have a little piece of it. We want to sell interior designers and top 100 furniture stores. That's our focus.
RN: What about online?
MC: Obviously, it's 2026, so an online presence is going to be needed. But we really want to protect our brick and mortar customers and interior designers.
RN: What’s your selling proposition to top 100 Furniture stores?
MC: Value and fashion. However, we have to be very calculated and very smart about how we attack that business. In this industry, you might get one chance to mess up, but you may not get a second chance. These larger retailers are looking for availability and reliability. They don't want to go to a source that might not be here in 18 months or might not be able to service them or deliver to them. So, we want to strategically be in a place where we can service them exceptionally well. Service is one place where you can differentiate yourself from the other players in this industry.
RN: With your target audience in mind, tell us a little bit about the focus of your rugs and why you think they're relevant to those segments of the market.
Lavin's Contempo collection is hand-tufted of wool and cotton with loop pile.
MC: So, a few things: we do have very aggressive pricing. We are relatively new in the U.S., but our pricing does compare to the other operators in this segment. We have really nice designs, and the line is basically what I call California cool -- beiges and grays. There's a lot of subtlety to our line right now.
But as we grow and as we bring in more products – and as we grow our product development team – we’re going to be focusing on fashion-forward designer rugs because we really want to be interior design friendly.
RN: In terms of the weaves, where is the majority of your product? What categories are you focused on right now?
MC: Like the bulk of the industry, our current product is mostly power-loomed. But the handmade India product is something that we want to keep growing and keep building on. Right now, we have tufted and woven pieces, we have some flat weaves, but eventually, we'll get into the hand-knot business. That’s the goal we’re working toward.
We introduced really exciting rugs at the Fall High Point Market with our brand ambassador Tamara Day. It is all handmade -- really some beautiful, beautiful stuff.
Tamara Day's Deya collection rugs from Lavin and handwoven of jute and cotton.
RN: Give us some details about the handmade Tamara Day collections.
Tamara Day's Laid Back Luxe from Lavin is crafted of recycled PET fibers.
MC: We’re really excited about her Laid Back Luxe collection. What's really cool about this is we're offering handwoven and hand-tufted designs, and the collection has recycled PET yarn combined with natural fibers – some with cotton, others with wool. So, if you feel the hand on this, not only is it really soft, it’s performance. It doesn't shed, you can pour red wine on this, and it'll come right out.
Tamara Day's Laid Back Luxe from Lavin.