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Vegas now a hub for rugs

By Lissa Wyman -- Furniture Today, February 4, 2007

Las Vegas — With the opening of World Market Center Building B last week, Las Vegas became a major venue for the rug business with some 30 permanent rug showrooms, up from about a dozen six months ago.

Vendors here viewed the Las Vegas show as an opportunity to make deeper penetration into the Western states and further inroads into the furniture channel.

Feizy Rugs introduced two licensed collections in an expansive space in Building B, with the lines' namesakes on hand for meet-and-greet sessions: Tracy Porter for the introduction of her hand-knotted rugs and Sandra Lee to launch hand-tufted rugs.

"We've had extremely positive response to both the Tracy Porter and Sandra Lee lines," said President John Feizy. "The two collections were the hits of market."

Other new licensing programs launched in January at the Atlanta market and then Las Vegas, included Safavieh's Martha Stewart collection and Nourison's Liz Claiborne rugs.

"In both Atlanta and Las Vegas, we had people we've never seen before come in because they wanted to see the Martha Stewart rugs," said Cyrus Yaraghi, a principal of Safavieh.

The Liz Claiborne collection got front-window treatment at Nourison's 12,000-square-foot showroom in Building B.

Nourison and several other major rug vendors said they'll use the Las Vegas venue as a place to meet with key customers throughout the year.

The Oriental Weavers-Sphinx showroom in Building B represented a departure for the company, with emphasis on room settings rather than racks of rugs. Mike Riley, president of Sphinx, said buyers were in a "feeding frenzy" as they jammed the elevators and showrooms.

Jaunty used its Building B showroom as a prototype for its furniture store concession program, which offers rugs, fixtures, lighting and signage. Mac McCormick, vice president of sales and marketing, said the company "got a serious amount of new business here."

At Abbyson, one of the pioneer rug vendors here, Yavar Rafieha, vice president of sales and marketing, said the company had over 200 walk-ins on the first morning of market.

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Vegas now hub for rugs

Feb 1, 2007

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