Imagining a world without hand-tufted rugs...
Lissa Wyman, Rug editor -- Furniture Today, March 15, 2010
Last month, a reader approached me at the Las Vegas Market and suggested I do a “What if?” column.
“What if we didn’t have hand-tufted rugs?” he asked. “A lot of people complain about how tufted rugs have overrun the market, but if we didn’t have them, our business would not be nearly as large as it is today.”
So here is my fantasy on what the rug world would look like without the now-ubiquitous hand-tufted construction.
Without hand-tufted rugs, hand-loomed rugs would probably dominate the low end of the hand-made rug business. Retail price range could be as low as $50 to $150 for a 5 by 8. Everyone would be complaining about how these rugs had “ruined the business.”
There would be a lot more machine-made rugs, and more machine-made manufacturers in China and India. Price wars would push down prices on machine-made rugs to maybe $99 to $150 in 5 by 8.
India would see opportunities for developing synthetic fiber rugs in areas of the country not known for rug production. The Indian rug industry would be keenly interested in how the country’s power grid develops, because machine-made rugs and man-made fiber production need a stable supply of electricity.
Where would the hand-knotted rug business be? I think there would be a vibrant low- and mid-price hand-knot rug business, perhaps dominated by the construction from China and India we call “Tibetan-weave.” Not only would these rugs be made of wool, but acrylic, polyester and polypropylene as well. Prices probably would be pushed down to around $199 to $399.
High-end Tibetan-weave rugs from Nepal likely would not fare too well either. Lowball pricing would kill the cachet, I’m afraid.
So what about traditional hand-knots? Without hand-tufted rugs, we probably would have a lot more low-density knotted rugs. Popular price points for hand-knotted rugs would be $500 to $1,500.
A world without hand-tufted rugs might help the high-end luxury hand-knot business. With inexpensive Tibetan weave rugs dominating the low and middle parts of the business, the luxury trade might turn back to fine traditional hand-knotted rugs from India, Pakistan, China and Afghanistan. I also think there would be more contemporary styling in that category.
Without hand-tufted rugs, there would still be too many vendors. Everyone would be using the same tactics of lowering prices to gain market share (yawn). The retail landscape would look much the same. Mass-market stores would still be dominant and savvy independents would succeed based on customer service, product diversity and community trust. Other independent stores would stand by and complain and then fade away.
Can I imagine a world without hand-tufted rugs? Yep. It doesn’t look too much different.
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