ATLANTA SUMMER MARKET
People Pix Page 1

Kathy Leffler, center, president of Buy Now Or Never.com, St. Louis, with Couristan big-wigs Steve Codella, left and Ron Couri, right.

Couldn't miss thesecolorful icons of retailing in the Kas showroom: Exec vp Hari Tummala of Kas, right, hosts Aanchal Gupta and Dolly Agarwal of Rug & Home, Gaffney, SC

At Safavieh: Richard Zolt of New York based Stark, with Cyrus Yaraghi, a principal of Safavieh; Jody Shapiro of Safavieh and Yeran Megerian of Stark. Yes, Megerian is a member of the famous Megerian rug family.

Glenn Million, center, of Million's Floor Center in Springfield, KY, with Keith Arlinghaus, left, and Cyrus Loloi of Loloi Rugs. We love the retailer's slogan -- "Rugs by the Million."

Mahmud Jafri, left, of Dover Fine Rugs & Carpeting, headquartered in Natick, MA, with Jacqui Mather of Momeni.

The Oriental Rug Retailers of America always take a pro-active role at Summer markets. Welcoming market -goers to the seminar program are Jessica LaFalce of AmericasMart, left, and  Michael Joseph of Joseph's Imports, Indianapolis.Michael is president of ORRA.

7.15.11

ATLANTA SUMMER MARKET
People Pix Page 2 

John and Lucy Murse, center, owners of Rugs As Art, Sarasota, FL with Kaleen's exec vp Joe Barkley, left, and sales rep Bill Mitcheson.


The gang from Rug Decor visit Sphinx. From left, Keith Rhodes and Vicki Rhodes from Rug Decor, Gulfport, MS; Melanie Hayim, president of the retail chain, and Sue Ann Burke, vice president of Rug Decor. Hayim and Burke are headquartered in St. Louis. They are welcomed by David Moss of Oriental Weavers.

Bob Ball, left, and Greg Jordt, right of Harounian Rugs International, share a moment with Judy Howard of Judy Howard Interiors, Huntsville, AL

At Shalom: Rafi Amirian, Shalom's vice president of marketing, welcomes Michael Pourvakil, president of Toronto-based Weavers Art.

Execs of AmericasMart visit Kas showroom on opening day. From left: Kevin Malkiewicz, AmericasMart executive director of leasing; Wendy Reiss, key accounts manager for Kas; Rao Yarlaggada, Kas president and Chas Sydney, senior vp of AmericasMart.

Early Market Birds  Bob Browna, left, Carpet Mart store manager and Igor Yakovenko, right, Carpet Mart buyer, with John Shepherd, president of 828 International Trading. We caught these guys in the halls on Wednesday, where they shake a few hands and say hello to old friends before getting down to business on Thursday morning. Airbase Carpet & Tile Mart is headquartered in New Castle, DE.

Momeni's Li'l Mo juvenile collection always put people in smile mode. Ali Momeni, left, of Momeni, Carolyn Walsh, buyer for Rue La La in Boston, and Angela Chu,
regional sales manager for Momeni.

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7.16.11

ATLANTA SUMMER MARKET
People Pix Page 3

At Capel, from left: Allen Robertsen, Capel vice president of sales; Capel central regional sales manager Laura Freitag; Cameron Capel, vice president of national accounts, and Sam Presnell, The Rug Gallery, Cincinnati.

Chuck Cashin, right, of Amici Imports, welcomes Susan Hadinger, left and Judy Hadinger of Hadinger Flooring, |Naples, FL

Katrina Parkinson and Rick Poh of Carey Burke Carpets, Richmond, VA, are welcomed to the Nourison showroom by Jeff Gonzalez, of Nourison.

Josh Roberts, Jaipur vice president of sales and marketing with these smiling retailers from Dezings Unlimited, Blue Ridge, GA, from left: Susan Holden, Adele DeBee and Susanna Haller.

We attended the seminar on "De-Mystifying Area Rugs" an hour's worth of great information for retailers. Panel members included, from left: Cameron Capel  of Capel, Wendy Reiss of Kas, panel moderator Jessica Falce, Stephen Hoberman and Momeni and Monty Rathi of Kaleen.

Mike Kishline, left, of The Rug Gallery, Newburgh, IN, with Charles Kalison, president of Concepts International.

From left: Brad Speaks and Tiffany Tyler of Target Stores, Minneapolis, with Surya execs Paul Sullivan and Satya Tiwari. We like Satya's new gangsta look.

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7.7.11

ATLANTA SUMMER MARKET
People Pix Page 4

Brian Ciscell of Home Shopping Network (HSN) in St. Petersburg, FL meets with the nice Orian folks: Kathy Cox, left, vice president of sales, and Skip Kind of Orian.

At Karastan, John Thompson, left, and Steve Roan, right welcome retailers Kenneth and Sharon Esco, Decorator Depot, Montgomery, AL.

Paula Atkins of Nourison, center, with Memet Ozbay, left, and Yilmaz Gurer of Merinos USA, Jefferson, GA

At Due Process, from left:Neal Birnbaum, Due Process West Coast rep; Stephen Aijian and Karla Aijian Smith and Thomas Munroe of Oriental Rug Gallery, San Antonio, and Mike Massman, vice president of national sales for Due Process.

A Mink never THINKS of missing a market! We caught these guys at the very end of the show, from left: Richard Kennedy, director of stores for the Mink Cos; David Mink, Jr., center,  newly-named ceo for Mink, and Henry Ward, merchandise manager for Mink. The Mink organization runs all the rug lease departments in Macy's nation-wide.

Kim Nyman, center of Home Depot's Home Decorator's Collection, Atlanta, with Maria Metropolous-Ward, left, vice president of national accounts and Mike Riley, president of Oriental Weavers of America.

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7.18.11

ATLANTA SUMMER MARKET
People Pix Page 5

Cathy Symonovicz of the Capel Rug Store in Blowing Rock, NC, is shown through the Amer line by J.C. Lehnen, creative director for Amer.

Lee Harounian, right a principal of Harounian Rugs International, with good friends Mansour Ansari of Mansour Ansari, Atlanta, left, and Jemal Gurment of Eastern Rug GAllery, Champaign, IL

At Dynamic: J.R. Pelletier, new business development manager, and Brittney Pettis, e-commerce manager for Designed for Outdoors, Greenville, NC, with Tim Schantz, sales manager for Dynamic.

 
Lisa Slappey of Pride of Persian Rug Co., Houston, left, with David Khazai, president and ceo of Innovations International. Lisa said she's opening a new store called Post Modern Traditions. For more on the new online program being offered by Innovations, click here.

Showroom lunches are always relaxed and delicious at Karastan. John Thompson, left, of Karastan, plays host to John and Vicky Kammeyer of Rug Masters in Charleston, SC

Shamsu Ansari of Rizzy Home, Calhoun, GA with Laura Fair of Cortona, Italy, who designs a pillow line for Rizzy.

Ralph Bashian, left, of Bashian Rugs, with sales rep
Nate McElwee.

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7.7.11

ATLANTA SUMMER MARKET
People Pix Page 6

At Shaw, from left: Ken Breithaupt of Shaw; Dan Rucker of Brentwood Interiors, Brentwood, TX; Charlie Clark of Shaw, and Dave Buffington of Brentwood Interiors.

At Chandra, from left: sales manager Michael Heath; Ruta Menaghlazi of Freestyle Design Studio, Bonita Springs, FL; Ginny Howerton of Chandra Rugs, and Chandra Tiwari, founder and president of Chandra.

At Innovations International: sales manager Scott Hayim, left, President David Khazai and Sophia Shahab, Big Boss Lady.

At Dynamic, from left: Jon Morrison, vice president of marketing for Dynamic Rugs; Luc de Jager and Isabelle Torrelle of Osta Carpets, Deerlik, Belgium, and Matthew Rouhanian, president of Dynamic.

Roshan Bhattari, president of Paramount Rugs, with Sheila Wilensky, president of Wilensky Interiors, Atlanta.

Ma Jin, left, president of Jambros in Beijing, China with Paul Vesely, who was recently named president of Jambros USA. Paul Vesely will service existing vendor accounts in the US and will also be responsible for developing business with importers in South America,
 

Will Daughtrey, center, of Badcock Furniture & More, Mulberry, FL, is welcomed to the Rizzy Home space by Sheila Altenstadler, left and Glenn Syverson.

Orian execs Scott Miller, left, and Jim Howell, right, join Lissa Wyman, editor and publisher of Rugnews.com to say "Ta-Ta" from Atlanta. See ya next time!

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7.19.11