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11102017 Luxury Home Furnishings Superstore The Showroom @ Furniture Row Makes Room for Area Rugs

Diane Cotton Caplan
11/10/2017
LUXE HOME FURNISHINGS SUPERSTORE, THE SHOWROOM @ FURNITURE ROW, MAKES ROOM FOR AREA RUGS


At The Showroom @ Furniture Row, Denver's newest homage to luxury home furnishings, the Rug Market boasts 8,000 square feet of space and a growing assortment from leading area rug brands. 

By Diane Cotton Caplan
  
DENVER -- At a staggering 170,000 square feet, Colorado's newest luxury home store, The Showroom @ Furniture Row, claims to carry the largest selection of upper-end home furnishings in the Mountain West. What's more the sprawling store features about 1,000 rugs, not only throughout its well-appointed designer galleries and living vignettes, but also in its dedicated 8,000 square-foot area rug gallery called the Rug Market, with plans already under way to keep growing the assortment in the wake of High Point Market.

RugNews.com takes you on a private tour of area rugs at The Showroom -- Furniture Row's entree into the upper end of the home furnishing market -- talking with key players about the retailer's merchandising approach to the category and exploring some of the home furnishings stores's innovative features. 

The Showroom's parent company, Furniture Row, is one of America's largest family-owned furniture and bedding retailers, with more than 330 stores in 30 states. Now via The Showroom, it offers homeowners, designers, builders and architects a source for unique, curated home furnishings, design services and state-of-the-art technology. To learn more about The Showroom and its ground-breaking design and merchandising approach, click here.

"This has been a labor of love  for all of us. Now the real work begins." -- Amy Foster, lead gallery buyer, The Showroom @ Furniture Row 

"So much work, heart and love went into this project," said lead gallery buyer, Amy Foster. "As we were creating The Showroom, there were various obstacles we encountered, including times when we were told that a designer store of this size and complexity would be impossible. But everyone in the company believed in the dream and kept persevering. The result was well worth all of the hardships along the way." At High Point Market, Foster told RugNews.com, "The Showroom is a labor of love for all of us. Now the real work begins."

In the Rug Market

The sophisticated Rug Market, which just opened, already is planning to expand to make room for another 160 hanging area rugs. A display of tribal rugs from Momeni is featured in the foreground above. 

Rugs from the likes of Loloi, Nourison, Momeni, Oriental Weavesr, Dalyn and more, are integrated into vignettes throughout, building from popular priced furniture and rug brands carried by Furniture Row in the front of the store, to the high-end names featured in The Showroom's galleries, and also on racks in the Rug Market gallery adjacent to the Design Center. 

Already enroute to the store for example, are Christopher Guy rugs from Nourison which debuted at High Point, which will be shown in the dedicated Christopher Guy gallery at The Showroom, as well as on racks in the rug department.

Although platforms were originally planned to incorporate stacked rugs in front of the racks of the Rug Market, Ali Rejaee, area rug design consultant at The Showroom, says that idea was scrapped as the assortment has been fine-tuned to customer preferences. "We are now adding 80 arms so that racks will accommodate 160 more hanging rugs. And we will show one-of-a-kinds and antiques on the floor when customers want to see them." 

Rejaee noted that homes are larger in the Denver area, so that the best-selling sizes are 9x12 and 10x14. In addition to attending markets such as High Point to source area rugs, The Showroom will shop New York dealers and auction houses for true Persian antiques, and various wholesale showrooms for limited edition and one-of-a-kinds.
The Showroom's Rug Market includes top area rug brands and also fine Persian designs, antiques and limited edition one of a kinds..

"When you consider the hundreds of rugs sprinkled throughout The Showroom's floor vignettes, plus the inventory stocked in the warehouse, our customers have more than a thousand rugs to choose from," according to Rejaee.
 
"Fine Persian designs, antiques and pieces from Feizy and Karastan will join the firms already here on display," said Rejaee. "We fine-tuned our latest selections at High Point last month, so you can expect to see our assortment grow a great deal."

Rejaee, a rug-industry veteran of 35 years, relocated to Denver from Dallas just in time for the store's opening. "I'm still getting the feel for the rhythms and buying styles here," he said. 

"As far as colors, neutrals, grays and blues certainly are getting requested more frequently than traditional navys and reds -- and our racks and floor displays reflect that."

Ali Rajaee, design consultant for the Rug Market at The Showroom, takes RugNews.com on a tour of the growing department and explains local buying preferences.

Rejaee said consumers in Denver have sophisticated tastes that have moved beyond standard mountain and cabin looks. "Traditional tribal designs and geometric patterns typically sought after in lodge and cabin-like homes largely are being overlooked in favor of today's more modern and textured styles," he said, another indicator that The Showroom's customers are in sync with rug trends reflected across the country.
 
What's important, says Rejaee, is that the Rug Market at The Showroom will feature wide-ranging design options that will offer a little something for everyone, with machine-mades, tufteds, hand-knotteds and one-of-a-kinds hitting prices from $500 to $8,000 for an 8x10, depending on the quality.
 
A Look Inside

The moment you walk in the front door, you immediately are struck by the store's expansive size, its soaring ceilings and sweeping sightlines, which seem to go on forever, revealing vignette after vignette of stylish home furnishings -- easily numbering in the hundreds.

Thirty custom designer galleries filled with lifestyle vignettes showcase top-tier brands such as Marge Carson, Christopher Guy, Baker, Henredon, Lexington, Michael Amini, Bernhardt and to name a few.

What's more, each and every one of those furniture groupings is anchored by an area rug. For rug and design lovers, it's a sight to behold.

The Showroom features almost 200,000 square feet with vignettes of top-tier brands furniture and area rug brands.

Just to the left near the front door, a Magnolia Home gallery greets customers with the modern farmhouse styling of celebrated designer Joanna Gaines. Of course, where you find Magnolia Home, you find Loloi Rugs and one of the only swing-arm racks outside of the dedicated rug department.
The Magnolia Home vignette (above) was personally styled by celebrity designer Joanna Gaines and features her licensed products, including a rug from her partnership with Loloi. Below, the Magnolia Home by Joanna Gaines rug rack is the only free-standing rug display in the store outside of the Rug Market. 

A Retail Destination

Beyond the dedicated furniture galleries leading to the Rug Market, there's an extensive Design Studio, featuring an interior design library brimming with samples and adjacent workspaces for store designers and clients.

The Design Studio features an interior design library brimming with samples and adjacent workspaces for store designers and client.

And there are a series of unique diversions. An area called the Pink Palace offers dining and lounging, as well as boutique-style shopping for designer jewelry, clothing and even pet accessories. There's also an impressive man-cave-inspired area called The Retreat, featuring a cinema, game tables, snack bar and the head-turning NASCAR display, which includes actual pro race cars from the Furniture Row Racing team.  
 
Throughout the year, The Showroom plans to spotlight various charities, offer learning opportunities and host in-store events, making it a true destination for all that is home and design. 
Area rugs are featured in lifestyle vignettes throughout The Showroom @ Furniture Row in a variety of styles, weaves and price points, including this subdued graphic design.
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