HIGH POINT, N.C. -- Shopping High Point Market for the first time, the new CEO of Rugs Direct visited vendor showrooms for a high-touch view of an industry to which he brings a sophisticated high-tech perspective. "It's a little overwhelming, to be honest with you," Chris Long told RugNews.com in an at-market interview. 

"We depend on Bill Martin for his incredible knowledge of the industry," Long continued. "Every business has its sophisticated variables, and this is no different from any other. It's a complicated business."

Long, who joined the Winchester, Virginia-based e-commerce retailer in March, covered High Point's area rug scene with Rugs Direct's long-time execs, Bill Martin, Executive VP, and Adrienne Wooddell, merchandising manager.

Purchased earlier this year by private equity firm L2 Capital Partners of Devon, Pennsylvania, (read full story) Rugs Direct's founders and previous owners, Randy Kremer and David Craig remain investors and are members of the company's board of directors. 

Explaining the transition, Long said that Kremer and Craig reached a time where they wanted to do different things with their lives. "They've been in the rug business for quite some time," he explained.  "Because it was Randy and Dave's transition plan after the sale, L2 looked for a new CEO. They chose me - I think because I claim one of the longest backgrounds anywhere in this field. I was Staples' first-ever e-commerce employee back in the mid '90s. There aren't a lot of us that have been in for that long. " 

A Harvard MBA, Long sees a bright future for Rugs Direct with L2 Capital behind it. "L2 got in this because the want to push it and make it as big and important as it possibly can be." 

VIEWS ON RUG'S E-TAIL EXPLOSION

With his strong background in e-commerce and online marketing, Long came into the rug business knowing online retail is becoming critically important in the home furnishings field. What he didn't expect, however, was the online search volume in rug category.

"I can tell you that the search volume has surpassed my expectations by a magnitude of eight- or 10-fold."  Asked why, he explains:  "As a consumer, what are you looking to buy? A house, and engagement ring, a car, a rug. You can make a three- or four-thousand-dollar purchase in some cases, and rugs fall into the category of something you need to think about before you buy. 

"As a result, a large amount of comparison-shopping takes place online. Rugs are also a difficult product to buy online since traditionally you want to touch and feel it. You have to look for some level of comfort about the product that you're buying, so you want to search other people's reviews and look at different websites. There's a lot of research that goes into something that expensive that's difficult [for the consumer] to understand online," Long said. 

RugNews.com wanted to know why then most online rug sales are at the lower price points. "No doubt about it, they are. But there's a very broad spectrum of sales taking place from a $49 price point all the way up to thousands of dollars.  You probably see that reflected in many of the manufacturers that you see here [in High Point], right? They have products and prices fitting all those niches, all along the way."