CALHOUN, GA - Fast-growing Tayse Rugs has come a long way since its founding in March, 2005 in Alexandria, VA. The company is gearing up to commemorate its tenth anniversary with dealer promotions that will begin at High Point Market and continue throughout the year. Tayse was formed as the North American distribution arm of parent company Universal Carpet in Gaziantep, Turkey, a region many industry insiders consider the machine-made rug capital of the world.

Looking back, CEO and founding partner Sadi Sevimli says the start-up company began with only two collections, Terra and Kaira, offered in a total of 80 SKUs, all machine-made of olefin. "Until 2008, our warehouse was small - just 3,900 square feet - and our distribution was initially in the Washington, D.C. area in the states of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and D.C," Sevimli explained.

Today, Tayse Rugs services a broad cross section of retail channels with nearly 3,000 SKUs, and is currently expanding its 56,000-square-foot distribution facility and company headquarters in Calhoun, GA. to 150,000 square feet, including new customer service offices and a professional photo studio.  "With the new distribution center, which we expect to be completed by the end of 2015, we will be able to add many more rug collections, and provide better service for all of our customers," added Jay Dogan, COO, who joined the company as Sevimli's business partner in 2006.

Tayse's principals say a dramatic shift in consumer preferences in response to the economic crisis in 2008 was a game changer for the machine made segment of the rug industry. "We believe that economic conditions and the housing crash helped not only Tayse Rugs, but many low- to medium-end rug distribution companies. As you can imagine, instead of buying expensive hand-made or hand-tufted rugs, the consumers' reaction was to buy low-cost, nice-looking, machine-made rugs. This really was a turning point for us and for other importers in the industry," Dogan said.

As demand for its machine-made rugs continued to grow, the company added new accounts across the country and increased its team of sales representatives. "We decided to move to Adairsville, GA in 2009, next to Dalton, GA, the carpet and rug capital of the US. Our Adairsville location was 15,000 square feet, which allowed us to provide better service and more collections."

"In retrospect, moving was the right decision for our company. The economic crisis prompted us to look for cost effective distribution with better transportation capabilities," Dogan recalled. Also in 2009, the company embarked on another strategic move: they teamed up with two professional design companies overseas to develop patterns and colors more aesthetically pleasing to fashion-minded customers.

2011 marked another turning point for the young entrepreneurs when Taylan Sevimli [Sadi's brother and Jay's friend from University] joined the company as business development manager. Taylan brought with him a strong background in PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) and experience gained at Boeing, Honda, and Dassault Systemes.

"That same year we moved to a better and bigger warehouse, which is 56,000 square feet, in Calhoun GA, and started attending High Point, Atlanta and Tupelo markets. We increased our distribution channel to a nation-wide level, and later attended New York and Las Vegas markets as well," Sevimli said.

With Taylan Sevimli focusing on building better-organized and more efficient systems, Tayse began working closely with mass merchants, ecommerce companies, and Top 100 furniture stores. "This forced us to be an EDI-capable company, constantly striving to provide more professional customer service, and to embark on our current distribution center expansion program."

At Las Vegas Market in January 2015, Tayse launched its first all-weather rugs in the Garden City collection. "With their trendy colors and simple yet elegant patterns we believe they are going to do great in the market. Our Garden City collection has invigorated the indoor-outdoor area rug market. There is something for every décor and every budget."

"In the coming months and years, we will not only be expanding our rug assortment by adding other types of rugs from many different countries, but we will also be increasing our offering with other home textile products and accessories such as pillows, blankets, quilts, and art."

"Tayse Rugs is proud to serve over fifteen mass merchants, many catalog companies, ecommerce companies, close to 2,000 independent retailers and many of the Top 100 furniture stores across the country. We truly appreciate their business and continuing support," Dogan said.

Q&A with Sadi Sevimli and Jay Dogan:

What can the industry expect from Tayse as you enter your second decade in business?

Sadi: Home textile accessories, an expanded selection of rugs with different kinds of constructions and materials, and a keen awareness of trends in home fashion reflected in our collections.  

At the present time are all rugs power-loomed?  Are they all polypropylene?

Jay: Everything is polypropylene and power-loomed but we are planning to bring different constructions and yarns from China and Belgium.

What is prompting Tayse to go to countries other than Turkey to make rugs?

Jay: It does not matter how big you are and how many looms you have, you cannot make all kinds of looks and constructions. After a certain point, it is more effective to distribute a "ready to sell" collection rather than creating one and spending a lot of time on R&D.

What influenced your decision to move into home textile accessories, and when will they be launched?

Sadi: We have a lot of customers who sell more than rugs, and it is just a natural and a logical move to bring in new products that would support the sale of our existing products and make Tayse one-stop shop for these customers. We are hoping to roll out the accessories in 2016.

What experience did you and Sadi have in the rug business before Tayse?

Jay: I worked at a carpet & rug mill in Turkey after graduation in their export department for almost two years before I came to the U.S. Sadi was in the industry in Canada and we basically started up Tayse Rugs in US as young entrepreneurs.

How has the company evolved?  What was it like working there in the beginning?

Jay: In the beginning, Sadi and I were doing everything, including sales, accounting, delivery, collection, etc. As the company expanded, we started hiring people with the appropriate education and backgrounds.

What has been the most notable change (in the company or the industry) since Tayse began in 2005?

Sadi: I would say the 2008 economic crisis. Many hand-made rug retailers called us to buy machine made rugs, though they had refused to do so in earlier years. Also, consumer behavior has changed. Now, they want nice-looking but not-too-expensive rugs which can be disposed of and replaced in two to three years without breaking the bank.

To what do you credit your company's success?

Jay: It may sound a bit clichéd, but hard work. And the rise of the machine made rug business in the flooring industry. 

04.07.15