NFM's David Chambers details the company's new area rug strategy and how the category is growing sales in
stores as a result.

OMAHA, Neb. -- NFM (Nebraska Furniture Mart) has spent the past 18 months scrutinizing and revamping its area rug strategy, both in stores and online and the results have paid off for the regional home furnishings retailer.
 
In fact, sales of rugs are up both in its brick-and-mortar stores and on its website, and RugNews.com sits down with David Chambers, NFM's director of flooring, to discuss the changes and the impact the retailer is experiencing as a result.
 
"This year has been great. We're up quite a bit," Chambers said of the company's area rug business, adding that, "Our online rug business is up substantially this year over last year, so we're very excited about that as well."
 
Indeed, Chambers expects the momentum to continue well into 2026 with the projection that the company will see growth in the category next year as well.
 

In-store sales of area rugs are growing at NFM, which showcases between 1,000 to 2,000 rugs. Pictured is the Dallas location.

Founded in 1937 by Rose Blumkin, the retailer's first location rolled out in Omaha in the basement of her husband's shop. By the 1950s Nebraska Furniture Mart opened its flagship location at 2205 Farnham, adding electronics and appliances to its product lineup. Thirty years later Nebraska Furniture Mart consolidated its Omaha stores to a single location at its current flagship on 72nd Street, and in 1983 Blumkin inked a deal with investor Warren Buffet and NFM became part of the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio. 
 
Today, NFM operates stores in Des Moines, Iowa, Kansas City, Kansas, and Dallas-Fort Worth with a planned 2027 opening in Austin, which will be comparable in size to the retailer's showrooms in the other markets. The Dallas store, which is part of the Grandscape development, is a massive two-level home furnishings retail complex, spanning a 560,000-foot retail showroom and more than 1 million square feet of warehouse space. Designed to be an experiential retail experience, the Dallas NFM store offers a vast breadth and depth of inventory across categories, with inspirational room settings and brand-specific shops, and a Design Gallery, which offers shoppers designer services.
 
REASSESSING RUG ASSORTMENT
 

NFM spent the past 18 months reviewing its rug lineup to focus on its best-selling area rugs.

When executives started reviewing the area rug category the decision was made to refine the breadth of the offering but more importantly to grow the company's inventory.
 
"We are shifting and amplifying our top-selling collections and going deeper in inventory," Chambers said, "whereas before we weren't quite as deep and we were broader in our styles. 
 
"We have spent a really long time over the last 18 months streamlining our rug assortment. In the past, we would buy too much at markets and bring in too many new rugs so we always had things waiting in the wings to come out to the floor. We spent a lot of time really strategizing how we wanted our assortment to be and where we were able to streamline it."
 
LARGER SIZE RUGS BOOST SALES
 

NFM offers customers larger sized rugs in stock, with 8x10s still the most popular choice but 9x12s and 10x14s gaining
ground.

Another major shift in the company's approach was to focus on the growth of larger-size area rugs -- a trend reported by other rug retailers as well. Where before 5x8s ruled the day, today 8x10s have become the most popular rug size with even larger sizes becoming de rigueur. 
 
"Another big merchandising change that really led to our success this year in store and online is the growth of the larger rugs," Chambers explained. "We've seen the 9x12s and 10x14s continue to take big chunks of the share -- 8x10 is still our best-performing size but the 9x12s and 10x14s are performing exceptionally well in all markets --  and we're stocking those which is another key advantage.
 
"Today we are focusing on our top-selling collections making sure we've got inventory and expanding the key sizes in those collections so that we've got those in stock as well, even if they might not be on the floor. That's a big merchandising change for us because we don't want to have the same rug displayed in three sizes on the floor. We'd rather have one size and then educate the consumer that we have additional sizes in stock ready for pick up or delivery.
 
"There are not a lot of retailers who stock the bigger sizes for a consumer to be able to walk in and see a large rug on display and take it home the same day."
 
What's more, NFM stores display between 1,000 to 1,200 area rugs on rug arms and racks in its dedicated area rug department, which it has expanded over the years. Notably, its Dallas store features the largest rug gallery -- at least for now.
 
"Rugs in our Dallas store was a category that quickly took off for us as soon as we opened," Chambers said, pointing out that few if any other retailers in the area display as many rugs as NFM. "For a customer that wants to purchase a rug and take it home today, we have the biggest assortment in person."
 
THE AREA RUG LINEUP

 
The best-selling rug category at NFM is machine-woven, nonetheless hand-crafted area rugs continue to be in demand.

NFM's majority of rugs are in the machine-made category, however handmades and hand-knotteds are also included in the lineup.
 
"We are predominantly machine-made, but we have a philosophy that we want an assortment of products to sell to the masses and the classes: so we have machine-made, even hand-knotted, tufted and handmade rugs from entry-level price points up to the high-end machine-mades to high-end hand-knotteds.  We try to cater to all the classes. 
 
The average area rug selling price point of a 5x8 rug is between $200 to $400, and $400 to $700 is the average selling price in 8x10. "Definitely higher than what you find people buying online because when you have a customer that can actually come into a showroom and actually see the rug in person, they are more likely to note the difference in quality." In addition, NFM has dedicated area rug sales associates able to explain the differences between various qualities and features such as being pet friendly or able to withstand high traffic.
 

Nourison's hand-tufted Prismatic collection design PRS35 sand, crafted of silk-like Luxcelle and New Zealand wool, was
an NFM 2025 bestseller for customers seeking a higher-end product.

RELYING ON RUG VENDORS FOR SUCCESS
 

Feizy's power-loomed Gilmore collection's rust and ivory design 39MMF was a 2025 bestseller at NFM.

With the focus on best-selling collections, NFM works closely with its vendors to ensure they have adequate inventory at all times. Some of its most popular rugs and its most strategic vendors include Dalyn, Feizy, Loloi, Nourison and Oriental Weavers-- "they take the lion's share of the volume, and they partner exceptionally well with us," Chambers explained.
 
"They bring us new strategies and different ideas on how we grow this," Chambers explained. "The reps very rarely change and so they understand our business very well and they know how we work, which helps tremendously. I would say this: if you're a rug vendor and you're doing business with NFM you're in good hands. And we value those partnerships from a strategic planning standpoint.
 

OW's Maharaja collection is a customer-favorite and the collection's Nepal design was the hit of 2025.

WHAT'S IN STORE


NFM continues to reassess the rug category and see how to incorporate developing rug trends into its assortment.

While the changes over the past 18 months have resulted in dramatic improvement in rug sales, NFM is continuing to explore new product categories that might boost success even more. The company is considering adding more machine-woven wool products to its assortment, with Chambers saying, "We don't offer much of that but we're getting into it.  We identified that as a as kind of a white space for us."
 
He also noted that NFM is exploring its custom size rugs offering. Though it is currently featured in a very select manner, the company is focusing on how to increase the category in stores and how to simplify the process for its sales associates as well as consumers. 
 
"We do offer custom size rugs but are considering the breath of assortment that we would like to have -- so we are looking to expand that strategically. But before we do that we're working on some internal processes to make sure it's easy and smooth and that our RSAs understand it and it's just really easy for the consumer," he added.
 
2026 EXPECTATIONS
 

NFM anticipates that area rug sales will continue to grow in 2026 as Americans turn to rugs to update existing homes
or move to new ones.

NFM attributes much of its current success in the area rug category to the housing market, where more people are staying in their existing homes rather than moving, and they're finding that an easy quick way to update a space is with a new area rug. However, the company expects homeowners to start moving more in 2026 as interest rates are predicted to drop. 
 
"We are fully expecting continued growth in the larger sizes --9x12 and 10x14 -- and to even grow that 12x15. The sheer velocity and the rate they're growing today, it's definitely going to go into next year. We also see strength in elevating better machine-made rugs; we see that as a huge opportunity for us and how we sell and merchandise -- it fits our market and our merchandising strategy well. We also see a continued demand for those handmade and hand-tufted neutrals. That's where we're finding a lot of success too. We won't lose sight of the value mindset but where we're seeing the growth is not in value products -- it's more of the larger sizes, and a little bit better quality.  That's where we're seeing the growth happening and we project that to continue to move into next year."
 
Active solids also have been driving sales as well and are another trend the company expects to continue in 2026.
 
"We are very excited about our performance this year and even as we continue to wrap up the year, we had a great November, we expect a great December -- we're very, very happy with our sales this year. We anticipate once people start moving to new homes we will see even more rug sales."