Atlanta Market Business Report 2:
RUG VENDORS DEVELOP BIG IDEA PRODUCTS WITH VALUE, EXCITEMENT

By Lissa Wyman

ATLANTA -- Vendors exhibiting at the recent Atlanta International Rug Market have responded to retailer requests to bring fresh new rug ideas -- at a price -- to the post-recession retail landscape.

Both large and small vendors have developed  high concept products and services that are causing a lot of buzz  and changing their orientation in the market. Most importantly, vendors are making major efforts to stir  up new excitement for the rug business.

Expansion and Diversification

Oriental Weavers

Buyers flocked to the Oriental Weavers Sphinx showroom to get a real-life look at the reversible Options collection, which Sphinx announced in December. The Options collection is a group of  reversible hand-tufted rugs that are made in India. The design is different on each side of the double rug, but both sides are color coordinated. Retail is $599 for a 5?≤?Θ╝?Σ≤x8' in wool and $799 for rugs made with wool-and-viscose. The double-sided product consists of two rugs that  merged back-to-back using a proprietary process. Special racks and other merchandising tools are part of the Options program.

Mike Riley, president of Oriental Weavers of America, said the Options collection was a grand-slam home run. "It has created a lot of excitement and we think that retailers and consumer need that," he said. "We spent a lot of time  developing complementary designs that are functional as well as technically unique," he added. "They also offer great value. The consumer gets two rugs for the price of one."

While Options' uniqueness  provided a great deal of excitement, Sphinx also introduced a product line that uses a technique that goes back to the 18th Century Industrial Revolution.

Knightsbridge is Oriental Weavers'  first residential Axminster rug line. (Axminster looms provide 16 colors and up to 100 color mixtures to achieve greater pattern clarity, subtle gradations of color, dense texture and soft hand.) Made in Egypt  of New Zealand wool, the Knightsbridge collection has a suggested retail price of $599 in 5x8 size,

"We feel  this is a product that anyone in the rug business should be able to sell," noted Aaron Gray, director of marketing for Oriental Weavers. "At the $599 price point, it offers a unique value for the Axminster construction."

Shaw Living

Shaw Living also had several surprises for Atlanta market goers. The company has just begun production of Wilton-woven patterned olefin broadloom for the residential market. the broadloom is being made at the Shaw Living manufacturing facility in Ringgold, GA, and will be sold through Shaw Industries' broadloom sales force. Coordinated rugs and roll runners  will be sold through the Shaw Living sales organization, according to Jeff Brown, vice president of Shaw Living.

Shaw also introduced a major small-sample rug display and interactive kiosk at the Atlanta show.

Shaw Living is also expanding the Angela Adams brand with the introduction of a printed nylon rug collection that brings the high-end designer into the popular price range of $289 for 5x8 size.

Karastan

Karastan's business news made headlines in Atlanta with the announcement  of Steve Roan's appointment as vice president of the Rug division. But in addition to the shift in sales and marketing approach, Karastan has also diversified its product presentation.

"Karastan has always been known as a high end producer of traditional rugs, but now it's time to fill the the large mid-range portion of the market, the products ranging from $499 to $999 in 5'6" x 8'6" size," said Roan. 

"In addition to traditional styling, we also want to be leaders in more transitional and contemporary looks."

During the Atlanta Market, the company introduced the Generations by Karastan collection. The 12-frame looms can achieve the effect of over 30 colors in a single rug.  Generations is  woven of space-dyed nylon  on  Wilton looms at Karastan's Eden, NC manufacturing facility. Suggested retail price is $499 for the 5'6" x 8'6" size.

"We have certainly not abandoned our core customers or core design traditions, but the Generations collection certainly expands our total product presentation," noted Anne Carley, director of merchandising for Karastan Rugs.

Renaissance

Renaissance Carpet & Tapestries is making a radical departure from its classical roots with the introduction of its Renaissance Modern collection. One of the rugs in the collection won the America's Magnificent Carpet Award for best contemporary rug and the line has met with enthusiastic response from buyers, according to Jeffrey Soleimani,  director of marketing for Renaissance.

The patterns were chosen from a competition that called for art work from artists who were not necessarily experienced in carpet and rug design. Woven in Tibetan weave of wool and wool with silk and made in Nepal, the new rugs will retail for  $28 to $38 per ft.
 

"This was a tremendous risk that has had a very rewarding outcome," said Soleimani. "We've had a great deal of interest in this program and we are opening new accounts. We are getting great feedback from our customers and we are confident of the direction we are headed with contemporary design."

Innovation

Dynamic

Everyone loves shags.  Everyone loves indoor-outdoor rugs.  So it stand to reason that people would be downright CRAZY about rugs that combined those two categories, right?

That's the thinking behind a new collection at Dynamic Rugs, according to Matthew Rohanian, president of the importing company.

"We think this is the first product of its kind on the market," said Rohanian. It is Wilton-woven in Belgium using a new polypropylene yarn system and will retail at the promotion price point of $199.

828

While India is best known as a country that produces hand-tufted, hand-knotted and hand-loomed rugs, the Indian machine-made rug business is gradually becoming a reality.

828 International has introduced Madison, a collection of Indian machine-made rugs. The rugs are in traditional and transitional designs and made of wool. Madison retails for $499 in 5x8.

"While we sell hand knotted and hand tufted rugs, it's extremely hard to differentiate ourselves in those categories," said John Shepherd, president of 828. "We are known as specialists in medium priced machine made rugs and we are always looking for new products in that category," he added. "The new Madison collection met with very good buyer response in Atlanta."

Kas

Well-known for its boldly-patterned  hand-tufted designs, Kas is also exploring  technical innovations that offer unique looks at value-driven price points, according to Wendy Reiss, key accounts manager for Kas.

The Kas Ashley collection is hand-tufted of acrylic, then printed. The rugs are made in China and retail for $189 in 5x8.

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