By Lissa Wyman

BEDFORD, MA -- Home Goods is looking more like a department store and less like an off-price hodge-podge.

So why the mediocre rating?

Throughout the store, the merchandise presentation was clean, crisp and orderly. The lighting was bright without being harsh. The aisles were wide and uncluttered. The colors are this season's up-to-the-minute pinks, greens and blues. Price tags, often elusive in these types of stores, were fairly easy to find.

Come to think of it, many rug specialty stores could earn a lesson or two from the way Home Goods labels its rugs.  Every rug was consistently labeled with a  large, easy-to-read tag that was firmly attached to the rug. The no-nonsense label was straight to the point: country of origin, construction, fiber content, price and comparative price. It also included different sizes also available. In a self-service environment, it provided the information the consumer needs to make a somewhat informed buying decision.

Of course, being in a self-service environment, there was virtually no possibility that any informed sales person might appear to answer a simple question. "Errrr. Excuse me... what exactly is a hand tufted rug?"

A big rolling ladder was situated plop in the middle of the rug department. It provided a huge impediment for browsing the rack, but no one bothered to come around and move it aside or use it for its intended purpose. We also looked frantically around for a sales  or stock person to drop a rug to the floor.

This is not a new problem for Home Goods. In many of the stores, we have had to stomp back to the customer service desk to ask the person in charge to send someone back to help out. The request is always cheerfully acknowledged and another cheerful person eventually appears to unclamp the rug. But by the time all this has come to pass, the  buying ardor has cooled considerably.

Home Goods, like many other rug merchants, is beginning to display more large size rugs. A  large 9x12 rug rack with approximately 50 arms  provided a focal point at the back of the store. I wish I could report it was a colorful magnet. Unfortunately, most of the rugs were so dark and muted, you couldn't even see the patterns clearly until you were right on top of them. Because there was only one rack, many arms were used to display several different sizes, creating a cumbersome layered effect.

The assortments of styles was heavy on the traditional Persian rug designs. While there were some golden and beige oushaks, most of the styles tended to be dark and heavy. The overall effect was old-fashioned and stale. The few contemporary designs might have livened up the merchandise mix, but they were in such muddy colors, it was depressing.

In fact, the entire rack made me feel depressed. I was totally unmoved to buy.

Prices were so-so. They ranged from about $299 to $700 or $800. There was heavy emphasis on hand tufted construction. About 25% were machine made and about 10% in hand knotted construction.

While the room size rugs were dreary, the small accent rug department was fairly spritely. But the department was small. There were some blah looking beige and brown tufted throws and  bordered rugs  which my cats might like for napping. About the best that could be said for them were they were cheap ($12 to $20) and might suffice to cover a bare spot on the floor. There were also some patterned hooks and striped tufted rugs. The patterns seemed to be fixated on fruits and vegetables and  tropical looks (remember them?)

One of the problems with accent rugs is proper display. Like most other mass market stores, Home Goods folds these rugs and shoves them into shelves. It's impossible to see what they look like unless you unfold them. Unfortunately, several hours of that kind of consumer activity can result in a sloppy looking department by day's end. Obviously, Home Goods is vigilant in its housekeeping. Late in the afternoon, the shelves were nearly pristine.