Kaleen
  • Printer Friendly Version
  • Decrease Text SizeIncrease Text Size
  • PDF
Las Vegas, Show Recap

COVER Connect LV Shoppers Stock Up On Luxury Rugs

The Cover Connect Pavilion at Surfaces attracted rug buyers as well as TISE broadloom shoppers picking up its exhibitors‘ high-end area rugs.

Carol Tisch, Lisa Vincenti
3/12/2024
rugnews montage of rugs and buyers at Cover Connect Las Vegas
Surfaces broadloom attendees and luxe rug buyers headed to the COVER Connect Pavilion to snap up the
latest designs.

LAS VEGAS -- COVER Connect Las Vegas (CCLV), held in conjunction with major flooring expo The International Surface Event, which ran from Jan. 24-26, doubled in size from its debut last year, and both rug buyers and exhibitors report that the event was a success.

The winter 2024 edition of CCLV, while targeting luxury area rug shoppers, also attracted retailers and designers shopping high-end broadloom and hard flooring options, some of whom were unaware of the boutique area rug fair. Indeed, the CCLV Pavilion and its rug inventory benefitted from its co-joining with Surfaces, and its proximity to the TISE’s Wool Pavilion – as several surveyed buyers said they were primarily at Surfaces shopping broadloom.

"Surfaces is one of the only places that different types of flooring come together on exhibit," said Jacqueline Cox, owner Tapis Decor, Minneapolis. "For those of us selling the various types of flooring, from wool/nylon carpets, to area rugs, to LVT and other types of flooring, this is one of the only shows where they all come together! It's great to bring your team and get a full picture of the industry and meet partners, that may also now be friends."

Oscar Tatosian of Oscar Isberian Rugs in Evanston, Illinois, with Ramin Zollanvari at the legacy company’s stand.

The crossover traffic from Surfaces was enhanced by a TSIE’s curated tour dubbed ASID Inside SURFACES Tours, which showcased 13 brands and made a stop at the COVER Connect Pavilion.

"We are one of the original supporters of COVER Connect,” said David Samad, co-owner Samad Rugs. “We are building on it and hopefully the Vegas show grows -- most people want to grow this show and it does serve a purpose for meeting West Coast clients. We definitely wrote business in 2023 and this year we have seen bigger numbers; I am optimistic."

Naturally, showstoppers included many color-drenched designs for buyers looking for statement pieces in styles ranging from bold abstract or painterly motifs to contemporary gradient geometric looks. Another top choice was more organic and natural area rugs, with plush or textured piles or flowing tonal high-low pieces. In between were West Coast-friendly blue designs, ranging from mid-century modern looks to Scandinavian motifs.


ASID Members get a special guided tour of COVER Connect with designer and tour guide Wendy Glaister 
(in green), which stopped for a presentation by Chelsea Novakoski and Baki Ildiz of Creative Touch.
 
RugNews.com continues its Las Vegas area rug and broadloom tour as it walks the booths to find out who shopped the show, what's new and next, and to showcase the best-sellers.

AMER RUGS


Grayson Bagwell of Rugs.com of Fort Mill, S.C. checks out the designer intros for winter 2024 at Amer
Rugs’ stand. Shown, HRM11


Amer showcases its top-selling hand-knotted Milano collection (hanging, MIL04) and Willow (WIL8).

BATTILOSSI


Nathan Tucker of Lapchi (sister company to Battilossi) and Teri LaPlante of LK2 Kaim Kisner Studio,
St. Louis, Missouri, Passang Dorjee of Lapchi, and Andy LaPlante, LK2.


Battilossi showcases its Mood Boards themes in Vegas, which offers a range of its cross-coordinating area rugs.

CREATIVE TOUCH


Taline Isberian of Isberian Rug Company in Basalt, Colorado, browses rugs with Creative Touch's Baki Ildiz.


Creative Touch featured is highest-quality hand-knotted, Samsun, hanging, colored with all-natural
vegetable dye, and its latest additions to its hugely popular Bosphorus and Modern Handloomed lineups.

FRENCH ACCENTS


Tara French of The Scarab, Minturn, Colorado, with Danny Shafiian of French Accents Rugs browsing
2024 intros. Shown, ML442A


French Accents continues to grow its hand-knotted wool and silk Mid-Century Modern collection. Shown, Aspect

HARCOURT COLLECTION


Kelly McCarthy of Ruggles Workroom, Stratford, Connecticut, checks out the latest custom options with
Rick Zolt, founder of NY's Harcourt Collection.


Harcourt Collection debuted its Jaya collection, a hand-braided lineup crafted of abaca, which earned a
thumbs up from shoppers.
JAIPUR LIVING


Deborah Himy, Rug Depot Outlet, Emeryville, California, stocks up on area rugs at the Jaipur stand with
Dinesh Choudhary, center, and Sumit Rekhi. Shown hanging, Srb730


Global-style hand-knotted rugs remain a top choice at Jaipur Living, which debuted at the Vegas edition
of COVER Connect.

KIRKIT RUGS


Ahmet Diler of Kirkit Rugs takes a photo break alongside Jeff and Ehricka Samek, Coast to Coast Flooring,
with locations in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and San Clemente, California. Shown, Field hemp goat hair rug


Kirkit's plush colorful Moroccan Angora Tulu rug stopped show shoppers in their tracks. Shown, Tulu A181014

MOMENI


Ali Momeni at Momeni’s CoverConnect stand with Isaac Novian of Melrose Carpet in Los Angeles.
Behind them is the linen Koukila hand-woven kilim from Momeni’s Pure Salt collection.


Momeni returned to Surfaces via CCLV and showcased its 13 fashion-forward broadloom introductions,
which include two brand-new constructions (Harrison, crafted of nylon, and Arlo, hand-loomed of PET).
RUG & KILIM


Hasan Jafri of Dover Rugs, Boston, catches up with Rug & Kilim's Cyrus Nazmiyal, right, and Ryan Moghadasian.
Shown, Scandinavian collection rugs.
 

Rug & Kilim featured the latest additions to its successful Scandinavian collection, which now includes
nearly a dozen qualities.

S&H RUGS


Rony Rodriguez of S&H Rugs and Chris Steele of The Rug Lady, located near Las Vegas, in front of
the Bauhaus-inspired hand-knotted wool rug, style 88642.


S&H Rugs showcased a new eye-catching erased floral pattern rug in vivid warm tones above a
water-inspired ground. Shown, SH75416

SAHAR


Robert Leahy, Fine Rugs of Charlston, North Carolina, stops by the Sahar booth to check out the newest
designs with Sahar's Haynes Robinson. Shown, hanging, a new plush wool hand-knotted Moroccan style
AB6-001001, and on the floor, a hand-knotted Turkish Oushak.

SAMAD


David Samad and Bryon Hamilton introduced show shoppers to the newest additions to Samad's rug
assortment, including Brio collection.


Samad featured samples of its luxurious Mod Reserve collection. They rest on the latest Nordic collection colorway, gold.

STARK STUDIO RUGS


Buyer Jeff Stewart, Rug Island, Rosemary Beach, Florida with Jeff Koehler, Prestige Mills/Stark Studio Rugs.

Stark Studio Rugs debuted its new luxurious Wilhelmina area rug, crafted of 50 percent wool and 50 percent silk.
TAMARIAN


Chris Saliga and Ryan Higgans of Tamarian introduce COVER Connect shoppers to their new 140-page
coffee table book, hot off the press in time for the Vegas show. Samples of the company's new custom
program are showcased on the display.


Tamarian presents its cheery new Happenings lineup, crafted of pure wool in Nepal in the company's Phoenix weave.

WOOL & SILK


Georgia Pahl and Anka Tezcan of Wool & Silk Rugs with Driscoll Robbins in front of a sampling of the
company’s luxury carpets.


Behrouz Sarlak of Sahar in Irvine, California, poses with Erbil Tezcan, founder of Wool & Silk Rugs,
in front of his colorful contemporary Zoobie Zu design.

ZOLLANVARI


Neil Schaye and Oscar Tatosian of Oscar Iberian Rugs, Chicago, shop with Ramin Zollanvari to stock up
on new designs.


Among the showcased pieces on display at Zollanvari was its award-winning Glitch from the Fine Gabbeh collection.

Back

Related Stories

trans-ocean ad spot hri rugs