Rug vendors see bright future at WMC
By Lissa Wyman -- Furniture Today, February 5, 2006
Las Vegas — The rug industry was in a unique position last week, with a presence at both the World Market Center and the annual Surfaces floor covering expo at the Sands Convention Center.
There was little crossover between the attendees. Mom-and-pop floor covering stores in jeans and T-shirts, as always, were the backbone of the Surfaces show. Designers and furniture specialists in suits and dresses came to the WMC.
Rugs may not be the most prominent category at either event, but they may hold a pivotal position for the future of floor covering markets.
"The World Market Center Building Three, which is now in the leasing process, will be a prominent showplace for the entire floor covering industry," said Jack Kashani, co-founder and managing partner of the WMC. "We started marketing to the rug community. Now we want to develop an international venue for all higher- end floor products."
The third building is expected to open in 2008.
Nasser Rahmanan, CEO of Masterlooms, was one of the earliest champions of the WMC.
"When they built the first building, everyone was skeptical. But now that it's a proven winner, there is no other choice in the world for exhibitors," said Rahmanan. "It's a state-of-the-art complex, attracting people from all over the world. The developers had the vision and guts to make it happen. If you want to market your product, you have to do it where your buyers are. Obviously, this is where the buyers are."
Feizy Rug had a 10,000-square-foot space in the WMC's Pavilions temporary area and will move into Building 2, which opens in January 2007.
"We moved from the Surfaces show into the Pavilions and it was a very successful decision," said John Feizy, president and founder. "Surfaces is more oriented to carpeting and hard surface specialists, and we never fit in there. At World Market Center, the customers we saw were much more valuable home furnishings accounts. We saw new people and opened new accounts. This was a much more profitable show by far than Surfaces ever was."
Feizy and other rug vendors predict the WMC will gain momentum as a venue for the Western states, Canada and other international buyers.
Rug vendors Abbyson and Safavieh are branching out into furniture. Both showed in the World Market Center.
"This is the venue we have chosen to make our major introductions," said Yavar Rafieha, vice president of marketing and sales at Abbyson. He said High Point remains strong, however, and the company will open a furniture showroom in Suites at Market Square this spring, in addition to its rug space.
"As our brand expands, we believe High Point will remain a good market, particularly for our East Coast customers," Rafieha said.
Spurred by its success in Las Vegas, New York-based Safavieh said it is expanding its Western presence. "We are now committed to opening a West Coast distribution center, in order to better service the new customers that we meet here," said Dick Miller, recently named head of Safavieh's wholesale furniture division.
Safavieh, like many other vendors, sees competition between High Point and Las Vegas as good for the industry. "We've already seen greater co-operation in High Point in terms of transportation and hotels," said Arash Yaraghi, a Safavieh principal.
Hellenic Rugs showed in the Pavilions and will move into Building 2 when it opens.
"The Surfaces attendee was not my customer anymore. My customers are here. Too bad I didn't have the guts to show (at the WMC) in July," said Hellenic President Steve Mazarakis.
He said he sees the three major markets for rugs — Las Vegas, High Point and Atlanta — becoming more regional events.
"The big buyers will go to every market because they have to keep up with every facet of the market. But our independent store customers tend to go to the market that is geographically closest to them. We can't just sell the big guys; we've got to be where our core customers are," Mazarakis said.
At Surfaces, some major rug vendors were considering their next moves.
Nourison, which showed at Surfaces, will move into WMC Building 2 but plans to maintain a smaller presence at Surfaces for its broadloom business.
Several rug exhibitors who show at the Surfaces event are considering a move to the World Market Center. But it's not an easy decision to make, particularly for those that have made inroads into the floor covering specialty store channel.
"There are so many markets today, it's difficult to decide where to put our showroom dollars," said Mark Ferullo, vice president of 828 International Trading. "But the bottom line is, we have to go where our customers want to shop."
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Rug vendors diversify mix
Jan 27, 2008 -
A tale of two markets taking place in rugs
Jan 30, 2006 -
Building B enhances presence of rug vendors
Feb 11, 2007 -
Fewer markets? Not likely for most rug vendors
Feb 26, 2006 -
Fewer markets? Not likely for most rug vendors
Feb 13, 2006
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