CRAZY TIME TO OPEN A NEW STORE?
WORLD OF RUGS & FURNITURE
IN ATLANTA DEFIES THE ODDS

David Lewis, left, and Abe Malla in their new rug and furniture store in Atlanta.

By Janelle Lampp

ATLANTA --Maybe the Spring of 2008 wasn't the best time to open a rug and home furnishings store, but surprise. With their new 80,000 sq. ft. World of Rugs & Furniture, Abe Malla and David Lewis have created a retail environment that reflects the way consumers and decorators want to shop.

Lewis and Malla met through Horizon Pacific Home in Atlanta, and formed their partnership in 2002. Malla’s background in high-end hand knotted rugs and antiques  had its roots in New York in the 1990’s. Lewis was oriented toward the product development and sourcing of new rugs at all price points.

Rugs act as graceful dividers for vignette settings.

 â€œAbe and I wanted to create a larger scale concept store that would get the attention and earn the respect of the retail community,” said Lewis. With years of experience as the overseas rug buyer at Greenfront, Lewis said that “The mix of rugs and furniture that I grew to know and understand convinced me that this is the way to address the public’s needs.” 

World of Rugs was built for volume. With 23-foot ceilings and 80,00 sq. ft. of space, large quantities, large-scale furniture and over-size rugs are no problem.

Even with so much space and product, the store is also well organized and easy to navigate. “Abe is the organized one,” said Lewis. “He is strong in administration and marketing and keeps the store on track and in the public eye.”

All the merchandise is tagged and priced and the sales staff is experienced and knowledgeable.

The majority of the rugs are hung, with very few rolled. There's not a stack  in sight.

 â€œWe wanted the store to be different, diversified and with personality. But first and foremost, it had to be user-friendly," said Lewis. "Stacks and rolled rugs do not invite a customer to browse. So 90% of our rug inventory is hanging.”

The store has ten 50-arm racks which help keep the 1,000 8x10 rugs off of the floor. “The $100,000 to $150,000 we have invested in rack systems pays for itself quickly by cutting down on staffing needs,” reported Lewis.

Pricing at World of Rugs is not taken lightly. Malla and Lewis stressed that the store’s integrity and reputation depend upon a pricing policy that is fair, consistent and in line with the market.

 â€œEvery one of our rugs has an ID tag that tracks its progress from date of purchase to sale. That rug has one, genuine price. It may be discounted after some time on the floor, but it won’t change based on a whim,” said Lewis.

Initially, 60% to 70% of business came from interior designers. The mix is changing as word of mouth and advertising builds. Now, there is a more balanced 50-50 mix between designers and consumers.

 Designer business is very important to World of Rugs. The store understands the designer's needs, which it addresses with normal professional discounts and a generous approval program. However, the store  also goes beyond the norm by using unmarked vans to deliver merchandise to designer clients, in order to protect the designers' source.

Floor covering accounts for 80% to 85% of sales at World of Rugs, with  15% to 20% from furniture and accessories. “Our background is rugs, but we understand the need for other products in order to create an environment rather than just a rug store and to offer more variety and one-stop shopping,” said Lewis.

Although 90% of the rug inventory is sourced directly from overseas, World of Rugs carries many lines from domestic importers. Included in the mix is product from Hellenic, Kalaty, Momeni, Nourison, Safavieh, Samad, Surya, and 10 to15 others.

“We recognize that we cannot do everything ourselves and, just as important, some of the importers have created branded and sought-after lines that we need to carry,” said Lewis.

The focus at World of Rugs is hand-made. The only machine-made lines in the store are indoor-outdoor qualities and some roll runner programs. “We try to cover all price points and styles, but our experience is in hand-made constructions, so we try to stick with what we know best,”  Lewis explained.

Given current styles and the demand for a simpler, more relaxed lifestyle, World of Rugs recognizes the need for more transitional and contemporary designs.

“We aren’t that familiar with less traditional rug design,” said Lewis. Therefore, the store relies on importers and a couple of high-end, imported hand-made custom lines to fill that need.

In addition to the Atlanta location,  Lewis and Malla have five rug racks in the Weinberg Furniture store in Lake Oconee, GA a high-end resort area one hour east of Atlanta. At that store,  they showcase more indoor-outdoor, less traditional product.

With a website currently under construction, the Internet is the next uncharted territory for World of Rugs. The partners are planning to put all their imported rugs for sale on-line.

The store has an area devoted to photography with a computer operated, ceiling mounted camera in place to capture the large inventory that will be put up on the website

World of Rugs already has plans for growth. Currently 60,000 of the store’s 80,000 sq. ft. are occupied, and there are concrete plans for the other 20,000 sq. ft. With 23-ft. ceilings, a second floor could also be added to create up to 120,000 sq. ft. of space.

In addition, the partners have optioned another approximately 15,00 sq. ft. adjacent to the current property that is  in the process of being developed in cooperation with the city of Atlanta.

David Lewis and Abe Malla

08.08.08

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