PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE / Child labor beneath our feet: "PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE
Child labor beneath our feet
Louis Freedberg
Monday, March 13, 2006
IT' WAS AN UNEXPECTED, even odd, question for a rug designer to pose.
"Would you want an 8-year-old painting your house?" asked Alice Keshishian, owner of Carpets of Imagination in Petaluma.
Probably not, even if I could get the job done at a deeply discounted price.
Yet most of us probably wouldn't give a second thought to buying a rug made with the delicate, and overworked, hands of children as young as 6. Until recently, it would have been easy to claim ignorance about the pervasive and mostly hidden use of abusive child labor in the handmade carpet business.
No longer. A growing number of designers, importers and retail outlets in the Bay Area, including Keshishian, have linked up with Rugmark, a nonprofit organization that for a decade has been working to get children out of the rug trade. A Rugmark label on a rug certifies that no tiny hands were involved in making it. (For the full list of Bay Area Rugmark outlets, go to www.rugmark.org.)
If you think you got a good deal on a rug, there's a good chance it was produced with the help of poorly paid children, if they were paid at all. Some children work as virtual slaves called "apprentices" in return for one meal a day and a place to sleep. Sometimes, parents accept a fee to "loan" their child to a loom owner.
Today, an estimated 300,000 children are toiling in the rug trade in Pakistan, India and Nepal alone. Those three countries account for half of the $1.2 billion in sales of handmade rugs in the United States.
I can hear the groans now. Free-trade coffee. Dolphin-safe tuna. Now I have to feel guilty about enjoying the rug in my living room?
Well, probably.
Until now, it would have been possible to plead ignorance. But now all we have to do is look for the Rugmark label, which certifies that a rug has not been tainted with child labor. Rugmark inspectors follow up, making unannounced visits to make sure no children have been lured back to the looms. If necessary, they are "rescued" from servitude and placed in a network of schools, rehabilitation centers and child-care centers Rugmark has set up.
The goal is "not just getting kids off the looms, but turning their lives around as well," explained Avner Lapovsky of Sloan Miyasato at the San Francisco Design Center, which carries rugs with the Rugmark label.
Some of Rugmark's income comes from a small fee paid by exporters and importers totaling 1/2 percent of the retail value of the carpet. That adds negligibly to the cost. "On a $2,000 rug, the cost of making sure kids aren't exploited is about $10," says Nina Smith, executive director of Rugmark USA. Other support comes from foundations such as the Skoll Foundation in Palo Alto, established by Jeffrey Skoll, the founding president of eBay. Last year, Rugmark received one of the foundation's "social entrepreneurship" awards, along with a three-year grant to support its work.
The number of kids in the rug trade has dropped by 70 percent over the past decade. But there's still a long way to go. Last year, rugs with the Rugmark label had a retail value of about $30 million. But that represents only 1 1/2 percent of the handmade-rug market in the United States.
In January, Rugmark launched a national campaign, initially focusing on New York and San Francisco. The goal: to increase rugs with the Rugmark label to 7 percent of the U.S. market over the next three years, and to 15 percent over the next decade. Smith believes that once 15 percent of the rug industry is liberated from child labor that will have a cascading effect on the entire industry. "If we're successful, we'll be able to say that we have literally wiped out child servitude from the rug industry," she said.
Ultimately, it will be up to consumers, such as you and me, to pitch in. The greatest impact, says Stephen Miller, the owner of Stephen Miller Galleries in Menlo Park, "will come from the customer asking for rugs made without child labor."
Louis Freedberg is a Chronicle editorial writer. E-mail him at lfreedberg@sfchronicle.com"
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Friday, March 10, 2006
FT.com / Arts & Weekend - In love with the fabric of life By BB Timberlake
FT.com / Arts & Weekend - In love with the fabric of life: "In love with the fabric of life
By BB Timberlake
Published: March 10 2006 11:51 | Last updated: March 10 2006 11:51
Explaining love is difficult, so I’ll start at the beginning. I first became infatuated with rugs last summer in a small town by the Iraq-Iran border, where I was making a film for Sky News.
It was a remarkably odd time to undergo an aesthetic awakening. I had been accompanying some Serbian mercenaries and Ivan, their leader, invited me to join him on a shopping excursion. As his men stood guard outside the bazaar, we drank lots of sweet tea, examined countless rugs, or carpets as they call them, and haggled with the dealer. My defining image of the day is kneeling on the floor with this trained killer as he enthused about knot-count and rare dyes that made up the blues of an intricate Nain rug. He bought it for his mother. Serb men, even Serb mercenaries, are notorious mummy’s boys.
I left Iraq with several tribal Qashqa’i rugs and a desire to know more. Back in London, I phoned up Essie Sakhai, one of Europe’s foremost rug dealers, and asked him for some work experience.
Sakhai has spent a life in rugs. He comes from a family of Tehran Jews and has that bewitching contentment of a man lucky enough to have made a living from his passion. He has written numerous books on rugs and advises many museums and collectors. His main store is on Piccadilly overlooking St James’s Palace.
The word store gives the wrong impression – it is more like an art gallery where friends meet. There are no “sale” signs in the windows and no “stack’em high, sell’em quick” attitudes inside. Would you buy piled-up oil paintings advertised as 75 per cent off? Working with Sakhai, I realised that the most important thing for would-be rug buyers is to find a good dealer. He seemed just as happy to share his knowledge as to make a sale.
The apprenticeship also made me ask myself why I care for rugs. The answer is simple really. As a journalist I love storytelling and rugs do just that. Each piece is a testimony to the weaver’s origins. Some designs are common to whole cities and tribes, while other motifs might be exclusive to a particular family.
Look closer at the individual knots and the patterns they make. These simple sequences – such as one blue, three red, five green – are passed orally down the generations. They are like musical notation to songs, a sort of a genetic code of a culture.
Rugs form an integral part of life for a vast swathe of humanity from the Mediterranean to the edges of China. People are born on them; they barter with them and eat off them; rugs form dowry payments and are investments for people without banks. Covering wars and disasters, I have seen refugees fleeing for their lives through mountain passes. They always carry their rugs with them.
Rugs are not merely the fabric of life but of religion as well. Islamic culture has no separation between art and religion as the west does today. In the world of Islam, rugs are not merely works of art but aids to contemplation. Peering into the dense imagery and symbolism of my own rugs, I am reminded of the most beautiful examples of illuminated medieval manuscripts in the British Library, dating from the times when art was the servant of the Christian church.
For Sakhai, picking a rug is one of the most important decisions people make about their homes. “A good carpet makes a room and gives soul to a house. It is not merely an object of great beauty but an investment that can give you enormous pleasure on a daily basis. Decide what size you need and then follow your heart. It is about what attracts you.”
There is a rug to suit every style of decoration. The bold, geometric Quashqa’i one I bought in Iraq suits the modern, minimalist room where it sits in my home. Yet another ornate and intricate rug I bought for a friend sits perfectly in her house cluttered with antiques, books and icons.
There is no single indication of a rug’s quality or value. Too many people give importance to knot-count but that’s like judging a suit solely by its thread-count or a digital camera by its pixel count alone. What is important is how the many factors of design, materials and the skill of the artist work together. A good rug is like a good view – what would you like to gaze at each day?
Another factor is how much wear your rug will receive. If it is for the hallway, pick a rug made of sturdy wools; a silk piece might live more comfortably in the bedroom. A good dealer will guide you to the appropriate quality and design for the right place and ensure you have the best example of a particular style.
He or she should also tend to you and your rugs long after the point of sale. Sakhai, for example, has the Carpet Club, offering customers ongoing advice and services. Every so often rugs are collected, cleaned and examined, and a written report about them is prepared. Sakhai also handles valuations and deals with insurance companies, including maintaining photos of customers’ rugs. Anyone who decides to sell can also ask to have those photos transferred into a virtual showroom online – owners can make their rugs available to buyers while still enjoying them at home.
In recent years, Sakhai has come across two misunderstandings that are worth noting. The first concerns child labour: these Persian rugs can only be produced by skilled weavers. Children are no more capable of weaving a fine rug than they are of producing a Chippendale cabinet. Second is allergies: good rugs are made from the finest wools and silks and have none of the synthetic fibres and glues loved by dust mites.
Speaking from experience, I must warn that mites seem less dangerous than being bitten by the rug bug. Anyone who spends a day with a good dealer should expect to start revelling in walks through floors filled with rugs, flushed with the joy of finding a particularly interesting example. You start to judge friends by what’s on their floor. Indeed, you may never look up again.
Every day, as I cross my study, I tread across a garden of Eden of naïve animals and birds, and not a week goes by without my noticing something new in that bright tangle of design and meaning. This week I spotted a reindeer. He has no business among the peacocks and other Persian animals, so I can only imagine that he leaped from satellite TV into the weaver’s mind and down on to the loom. That reindeer is yet another new character in a never-ending story.
Meanwhile, my affair with carpets is just beginning. And I am smitten."
By BB Timberlake
Published: March 10 2006 11:51 | Last updated: March 10 2006 11:51
Explaining love is difficult, so I’ll start at the beginning. I first became infatuated with rugs last summer in a small town by the Iraq-Iran border, where I was making a film for Sky News.
It was a remarkably odd time to undergo an aesthetic awakening. I had been accompanying some Serbian mercenaries and Ivan, their leader, invited me to join him on a shopping excursion. As his men stood guard outside the bazaar, we drank lots of sweet tea, examined countless rugs, or carpets as they call them, and haggled with the dealer. My defining image of the day is kneeling on the floor with this trained killer as he enthused about knot-count and rare dyes that made up the blues of an intricate Nain rug. He bought it for his mother. Serb men, even Serb mercenaries, are notorious mummy’s boys.
I left Iraq with several tribal Qashqa’i rugs and a desire to know more. Back in London, I phoned up Essie Sakhai, one of Europe’s foremost rug dealers, and asked him for some work experience.
Sakhai has spent a life in rugs. He comes from a family of Tehran Jews and has that bewitching contentment of a man lucky enough to have made a living from his passion. He has written numerous books on rugs and advises many museums and collectors. His main store is on Piccadilly overlooking St James’s Palace.
The word store gives the wrong impression – it is more like an art gallery where friends meet. There are no “sale” signs in the windows and no “stack’em high, sell’em quick” attitudes inside. Would you buy piled-up oil paintings advertised as 75 per cent off? Working with Sakhai, I realised that the most important thing for would-be rug buyers is to find a good dealer. He seemed just as happy to share his knowledge as to make a sale.
The apprenticeship also made me ask myself why I care for rugs. The answer is simple really. As a journalist I love storytelling and rugs do just that. Each piece is a testimony to the weaver’s origins. Some designs are common to whole cities and tribes, while other motifs might be exclusive to a particular family.
Look closer at the individual knots and the patterns they make. These simple sequences – such as one blue, three red, five green – are passed orally down the generations. They are like musical notation to songs, a sort of a genetic code of a culture.
Rugs form an integral part of life for a vast swathe of humanity from the Mediterranean to the edges of China. People are born on them; they barter with them and eat off them; rugs form dowry payments and are investments for people without banks. Covering wars and disasters, I have seen refugees fleeing for their lives through mountain passes. They always carry their rugs with them.
Rugs are not merely the fabric of life but of religion as well. Islamic culture has no separation between art and religion as the west does today. In the world of Islam, rugs are not merely works of art but aids to contemplation. Peering into the dense imagery and symbolism of my own rugs, I am reminded of the most beautiful examples of illuminated medieval manuscripts in the British Library, dating from the times when art was the servant of the Christian church.
For Sakhai, picking a rug is one of the most important decisions people make about their homes. “A good carpet makes a room and gives soul to a house. It is not merely an object of great beauty but an investment that can give you enormous pleasure on a daily basis. Decide what size you need and then follow your heart. It is about what attracts you.”
There is a rug to suit every style of decoration. The bold, geometric Quashqa’i one I bought in Iraq suits the modern, minimalist room where it sits in my home. Yet another ornate and intricate rug I bought for a friend sits perfectly in her house cluttered with antiques, books and icons.
There is no single indication of a rug’s quality or value. Too many people give importance to knot-count but that’s like judging a suit solely by its thread-count or a digital camera by its pixel count alone. What is important is how the many factors of design, materials and the skill of the artist work together. A good rug is like a good view – what would you like to gaze at each day?
Another factor is how much wear your rug will receive. If it is for the hallway, pick a rug made of sturdy wools; a silk piece might live more comfortably in the bedroom. A good dealer will guide you to the appropriate quality and design for the right place and ensure you have the best example of a particular style.
He or she should also tend to you and your rugs long after the point of sale. Sakhai, for example, has the Carpet Club, offering customers ongoing advice and services. Every so often rugs are collected, cleaned and examined, and a written report about them is prepared. Sakhai also handles valuations and deals with insurance companies, including maintaining photos of customers’ rugs. Anyone who decides to sell can also ask to have those photos transferred into a virtual showroom online – owners can make their rugs available to buyers while still enjoying them at home.
In recent years, Sakhai has come across two misunderstandings that are worth noting. The first concerns child labour: these Persian rugs can only be produced by skilled weavers. Children are no more capable of weaving a fine rug than they are of producing a Chippendale cabinet. Second is allergies: good rugs are made from the finest wools and silks and have none of the synthetic fibres and glues loved by dust mites.
Speaking from experience, I must warn that mites seem less dangerous than being bitten by the rug bug. Anyone who spends a day with a good dealer should expect to start revelling in walks through floors filled with rugs, flushed with the joy of finding a particularly interesting example. You start to judge friends by what’s on their floor. Indeed, you may never look up again.
Every day, as I cross my study, I tread across a garden of Eden of naïve animals and birds, and not a week goes by without my noticing something new in that bright tangle of design and meaning. This week I spotted a reindeer. He has no business among the peacocks and other Persian animals, so I can only imagine that he leaped from satellite TV into the weaver’s mind and down on to the loom. That reindeer is yet another new character in a never-ending story.
Meanwhile, my affair with carpets is just beginning. And I am smitten."
FT.com / Arts & Weekend - In love with the fabric of life By BB Timberlake
FT.com / Arts & Weekend - In love with the fabric of life: "In love with the fabric of life
By BB Timberlake
Published: March 10 2006 11:51 | Last updated: March 10 2006 11:51
Explaining love is difficult, so I’ll start at the beginning. I first became infatuated with rugs last summer in a small town by the Iraq-Iran border, where I was making a film for Sky News.
It was a remarkably odd time to undergo an aesthetic awakening. I had been accompanying some Serbian mercenaries and Ivan, their leader, invited me to join him on a shopping excursion. As his men stood guard outside the bazaar, we drank lots of sweet tea, examined countless rugs, or carpets as they call them, and haggled with the dealer. My defining image of the day is kneeling on the floor with this trained killer as he enthused about knot-count and rare dyes that made up the blues of an intricate Nain rug. He bought it for his mother. Serb men, even Serb mercenaries, are notorious mummy’s boys.
I left Iraq with several tribal Qashqa’i rugs and a desire to know more. Back in London, I phoned up Essie Sakhai, one of Europe’s foremost rug dealers, and asked him for some work experience.
Sakhai has spent a life in rugs. He comes from a family of Tehran Jews and has that bewitching contentment of a man lucky enough to have made a living from his passion. He has written numerous books on rugs and advises many museums and collectors. His main store is on Piccadilly overlooking St James’s Palace.
The word store gives the wrong impression – it is more like an art gallery where friends meet. There are no “sale” signs in the windows and no “stack’em high, sell’em quick” attitudes inside. Would you buy piled-up oil paintings advertised as 75 per cent off? Working with Sakhai, I realised that the most important thing for would-be rug buyers is to find a good dealer. He seemed just as happy to share his knowledge as to make a sale.
The apprenticeship also made me ask myself why I care for rugs. The answer is simple really. As a journalist I love storytelling and rugs do just that. Each piece is a testimony to the weaver’s origins. Some designs are common to whole cities and tribes, while other motifs might be exclusive to a particular family.
Look closer at the individual knots and the patterns they make. These simple sequences – such as one blue, three red, five green – are passed orally down the generations. They are like musical notation to songs, a sort of a genetic code of a culture.
Rugs form an integral part of life for a vast swathe of humanity from the Mediterranean to the edges of China. People are born on them; they barter with them and eat off them; rugs form dowry payments and are investments for people without banks. Covering wars and disasters, I have seen refugees fleeing for their lives through mountain passes. They always carry their rugs with them.
Rugs are not merely the fabric of life but of religion as well. Islamic culture has no separation between art and religion as the west does today. In the world of Islam, rugs are not merely works of art but aids to contemplation. Peering into the dense imagery and symbolism of my own rugs, I am reminded of the most beautiful examples of illuminated medieval manuscripts in the British Library, dating from the times when art was the servant of the Christian church.
For Sakhai, picking a rug is one of the most important decisions people make about their homes. “A good carpet makes a room and gives soul to a house. It is not merely an object of great beauty but an investment that can give you enormous pleasure on a daily basis. Decide what size you need and then follow your heart. It is about what attracts you.”
There is a rug to suit every style of decoration. The bold, geometric Quashqa’i one I bought in Iraq suits the modern, minimalist room where it sits in my home. Yet another ornate and intricate rug I bought for a friend sits perfectly in her house cluttered with antiques, books and icons.
There is no single indication of a rug’s quality or value. Too many people give importance to knot-count but that’s like judging a suit solely by its thread-count or a digital camera by its pixel count alone. What is important is how the many factors of design, materials and the skill of the artist work together. A good rug is like a good view – what would you like to gaze at each day?
Another factor is how much wear your rug will receive. If it is for the hallway, pick a rug made of sturdy wools; a silk piece might live more comfortably in the bedroom. A good dealer will guide you to the appropriate quality and design for the right place and ensure you have the best example of a particular style.
He or she should also tend to you and your rugs long after the point of sale. Sakhai, for example, has the Carpet Club, offering customers ongoing advice and services. Every so often rugs are collected, cleaned and examined, and a written report about them is prepared. Sakhai also handles valuations and deals with insurance companies, including maintaining photos of customers’ rugs. Anyone who decides to sell can also ask to have those photos transferred into a virtual showroom online – owners can make their rugs available to buyers while still enjoying them at home.
In recent years, Sakhai has come across two misunderstandings that are worth noting. The first concerns child labour: these Persian rugs can only be produced by skilled weavers. Children are no more capable of weaving a fine rug than they are of producing a Chippendale cabinet. Second is allergies: good rugs are made from the finest wools and silks and have none of the synthetic fibres and glues loved by dust mites.
Speaking from experience, I must warn that mites seem less dangerous than being bitten by the rug bug. Anyone who spends a day with a good dealer should expect to start revelling in walks through floors filled with rugs, flushed with the joy of finding a particularly interesting example. You start to judge friends by what’s on their floor. Indeed, you may never look up again.
Every day, as I cross my study, I tread across a garden of Eden of naïve animals and birds, and not a week goes by without my noticing something new in that bright tangle of design and meaning. This week I spotted a reindeer. He has no business among the peacocks and other Persian animals, so I can only imagine that he leaped from satellite TV into the weaver’s mind and down on to the loom. That reindeer is yet another new character in a never-ending story.
Meanwhile, my affair with carpets is just beginning. And I am smitten."
By BB Timberlake
Published: March 10 2006 11:51 | Last updated: March 10 2006 11:51
Explaining love is difficult, so I’ll start at the beginning. I first became infatuated with rugs last summer in a small town by the Iraq-Iran border, where I was making a film for Sky News.
It was a remarkably odd time to undergo an aesthetic awakening. I had been accompanying some Serbian mercenaries and Ivan, their leader, invited me to join him on a shopping excursion. As his men stood guard outside the bazaar, we drank lots of sweet tea, examined countless rugs, or carpets as they call them, and haggled with the dealer. My defining image of the day is kneeling on the floor with this trained killer as he enthused about knot-count and rare dyes that made up the blues of an intricate Nain rug. He bought it for his mother. Serb men, even Serb mercenaries, are notorious mummy’s boys.
I left Iraq with several tribal Qashqa’i rugs and a desire to know more. Back in London, I phoned up Essie Sakhai, one of Europe’s foremost rug dealers, and asked him for some work experience.
Sakhai has spent a life in rugs. He comes from a family of Tehran Jews and has that bewitching contentment of a man lucky enough to have made a living from his passion. He has written numerous books on rugs and advises many museums and collectors. His main store is on Piccadilly overlooking St James’s Palace.
The word store gives the wrong impression – it is more like an art gallery where friends meet. There are no “sale” signs in the windows and no “stack’em high, sell’em quick” attitudes inside. Would you buy piled-up oil paintings advertised as 75 per cent off? Working with Sakhai, I realised that the most important thing for would-be rug buyers is to find a good dealer. He seemed just as happy to share his knowledge as to make a sale.
The apprenticeship also made me ask myself why I care for rugs. The answer is simple really. As a journalist I love storytelling and rugs do just that. Each piece is a testimony to the weaver’s origins. Some designs are common to whole cities and tribes, while other motifs might be exclusive to a particular family.
Look closer at the individual knots and the patterns they make. These simple sequences – such as one blue, three red, five green – are passed orally down the generations. They are like musical notation to songs, a sort of a genetic code of a culture.
Rugs form an integral part of life for a vast swathe of humanity from the Mediterranean to the edges of China. People are born on them; they barter with them and eat off them; rugs form dowry payments and are investments for people without banks. Covering wars and disasters, I have seen refugees fleeing for their lives through mountain passes. They always carry their rugs with them.
Rugs are not merely the fabric of life but of religion as well. Islamic culture has no separation between art and religion as the west does today. In the world of Islam, rugs are not merely works of art but aids to contemplation. Peering into the dense imagery and symbolism of my own rugs, I am reminded of the most beautiful examples of illuminated medieval manuscripts in the British Library, dating from the times when art was the servant of the Christian church.
For Sakhai, picking a rug is one of the most important decisions people make about their homes. “A good carpet makes a room and gives soul to a house. It is not merely an object of great beauty but an investment that can give you enormous pleasure on a daily basis. Decide what size you need and then follow your heart. It is about what attracts you.”
There is a rug to suit every style of decoration. The bold, geometric Quashqa’i one I bought in Iraq suits the modern, minimalist room where it sits in my home. Yet another ornate and intricate rug I bought for a friend sits perfectly in her house cluttered with antiques, books and icons.
There is no single indication of a rug’s quality or value. Too many people give importance to knot-count but that’s like judging a suit solely by its thread-count or a digital camera by its pixel count alone. What is important is how the many factors of design, materials and the skill of the artist work together. A good rug is like a good view – what would you like to gaze at each day?
Another factor is how much wear your rug will receive. If it is for the hallway, pick a rug made of sturdy wools; a silk piece might live more comfortably in the bedroom. A good dealer will guide you to the appropriate quality and design for the right place and ensure you have the best example of a particular style.
He or she should also tend to you and your rugs long after the point of sale. Sakhai, for example, has the Carpet Club, offering customers ongoing advice and services. Every so often rugs are collected, cleaned and examined, and a written report about them is prepared. Sakhai also handles valuations and deals with insurance companies, including maintaining photos of customers’ rugs. Anyone who decides to sell can also ask to have those photos transferred into a virtual showroom online – owners can make their rugs available to buyers while still enjoying them at home.
In recent years, Sakhai has come across two misunderstandings that are worth noting. The first concerns child labour: these Persian rugs can only be produced by skilled weavers. Children are no more capable of weaving a fine rug than they are of producing a Chippendale cabinet. Second is allergies: good rugs are made from the finest wools and silks and have none of the synthetic fibres and glues loved by dust mites.
Speaking from experience, I must warn that mites seem less dangerous than being bitten by the rug bug. Anyone who spends a day with a good dealer should expect to start revelling in walks through floors filled with rugs, flushed with the joy of finding a particularly interesting example. You start to judge friends by what’s on their floor. Indeed, you may never look up again.
Every day, as I cross my study, I tread across a garden of Eden of naïve animals and birds, and not a week goes by without my noticing something new in that bright tangle of design and meaning. This week I spotted a reindeer. He has no business among the peacocks and other Persian animals, so I can only imagine that he leaped from satellite TV into the weaver’s mind and down on to the loom. That reindeer is yet another new character in a never-ending story.
Meanwhile, my affair with carpets is just beginning. And I am smitten."
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
St. Louis Business Journal: Rich Rugs - 2001-04-09
St. Louis Business Journal: Rich Rugs - 2001-04-09: "Rich Rugs
Asadorian Rug Co. imports and sells some of the finest Oriental rugs
St. Louis Business Journal - April 6, 2001by Ron Janecke
Business activity: The lifting of the United States embargo on certain goods imported from Iran, including Persian rugs, has opened another door for Asadorian Rug Co. Inc.
The third-generation, family business that imports and exports Oriental rugs is run by Rich Asadorian and his cousin, Stephen. They work out of their showroom on Natural Bridge Road, near the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus.
The showroom has a large selection, ranging from mats to 14- by 27-foot rugs. The average size sold, 9-by-12 feet, sells for about $4,000. The company started selling imported rugs about 85 years ago.
"You can basically add a zero to the costs of rugs today, compared to what they sold for when my grandfather ran the business," said Rich Asadorian. "Those $200 to $300 rugs now cost from $2,000 to $3,000."
An inventory at the end of January showed Asadorian had 7,000 pieces in the store, including rugs being repaired or cleaned. Restoration and repair is a key component of the business.
Asadorian picks up the rugs and does the work at its Bel-Nor location. Everything is repaired, from burns to damage done by flower pots to areas chewed by dogs. Oriental rugs are extremely durable and can go six or seven years without being cleaned.
Four times a year, Rich Asadorian travels to the Far East to order rugs and to see the latest products being handmade by weavers. In August, he visited Nepal for three weeks, traveling to remote villages where women spend their entire time weaving, eating and sleeping in a community.
Asadorian has established relationships with agents, who scout markets before he makes the trips. He pays agents and shares them with other rug dealers whom he has gotten to know. His travels have taken him to India, China, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Romania and Nepal. He's also been to Hanover, Germany, one of the biggest rug markets in Europe.
"I try to learn enough about the country and the various tribes so not to show my ignorance," Asadorian said. "When I'm in one of these villages, I eat and drink what is offered me so I don't offend them."
Shipments of 30 bales each, averaging seven to 10 rugs a bale, are imported four times a year.
During the Iran import embargo, Asadorian was used as an expert by U.S. immigration officials. They brought him rugs confiscated at the airport to see if the rugs had been imported illegally from Iran.
Besides retail sales in St. Louis, the company sells rugs wholesale to dealers in Atlanta and on both coasts. A large percentage of the business locally is in the St. Louis metropolitan area, with much of it in west St. Louis County. Customers also come from Carbondale, Jefferson City, Cape Girardeau and Kansas City.
Executives: Rich Asadorian, 49, is co-owner and in charge of imports and sales. A native of Granite City, he graduated from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston in 1973 with a degree in business and finance management. After living in an area of Granite City where there is an Armenian community, he moved to Missouri with his wife and two sons two years ago.
His cousin, Stephen Asadorian, 32, is co-owner and in charge of the restoration and cleaning side of the business. A graduate of McCluer North High School, he entered the family business in 1986.
The other full-time employees are Dave Ellis, who has been with the firm 49 years, and Teo Brick, a native of Bosnia. Ali Shirazian, a native of Iran, weaves part- time restoring rugs.
Company history: Rich Asadorian's grandfather, Stephon, emigrated from Armenia in the early 1900s. One of four brothers to come to the United States, he went to Granite City to work at the American Steel Foundry.
He also began doing repair work at night on rugs for May Department Stores and Scruggs, Vandervoort and Barney and in 1926 opened the first Asadorian store, featuring elegant oriental rugs. He also had a brother in New York who sold rugs when New York served as the port of entry in those days.
Rich's father, Edward, and his uncle, Higus, took over the business from the founder, with Edward joining the company in 1944 after serving in World War II.
When Rich graduated from college, he entered the business. "I came in with my own ideas about how to run the business, and my dad and uncle gave me just enough rope to hang myself."
Asadorian was helped by the strong economy in the late '90s and in 2000 and by a trend to more hardwood floors in homes. "In the 1950s, everyone went for broadloom carpet," he said. "With the development of new coatings to treat hardwood floors, more people wanted hardwood floors. The boom in new housing also helped us."
Revenue: Sales hit $1 million in 2000, a growth of 8 percent over 1999. Revenue jumped 12 percent from 1998 to 1999.
Professional services: Lee Koch at First Bank handles financial dealings; Pat Badalamenti of Badalamenti & Associates is the accountant; Laura Slay at Laura Slay & Associates Inc. does public relations and marketing. Asadorian does not deal with a law firm on a regular basis.
The future: April 28, the company will have a showing of rugs from Iran, including collectibles made by villagers. Asadorian also plans to revisit Iran later this year, now that the embargo has been lifted.
rjanecke@bizjournals.com"
Asadorian Rug Co. imports and sells some of the finest Oriental rugs
St. Louis Business Journal - April 6, 2001by Ron Janecke
Business activity: The lifting of the United States embargo on certain goods imported from Iran, including Persian rugs, has opened another door for Asadorian Rug Co. Inc.
The third-generation, family business that imports and exports Oriental rugs is run by Rich Asadorian and his cousin, Stephen. They work out of their showroom on Natural Bridge Road, near the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus.
The showroom has a large selection, ranging from mats to 14- by 27-foot rugs. The average size sold, 9-by-12 feet, sells for about $4,000. The company started selling imported rugs about 85 years ago.
"You can basically add a zero to the costs of rugs today, compared to what they sold for when my grandfather ran the business," said Rich Asadorian. "Those $200 to $300 rugs now cost from $2,000 to $3,000."
An inventory at the end of January showed Asadorian had 7,000 pieces in the store, including rugs being repaired or cleaned. Restoration and repair is a key component of the business.
Asadorian picks up the rugs and does the work at its Bel-Nor location. Everything is repaired, from burns to damage done by flower pots to areas chewed by dogs. Oriental rugs are extremely durable and can go six or seven years without being cleaned.
Four times a year, Rich Asadorian travels to the Far East to order rugs and to see the latest products being handmade by weavers. In August, he visited Nepal for three weeks, traveling to remote villages where women spend their entire time weaving, eating and sleeping in a community.
Asadorian has established relationships with agents, who scout markets before he makes the trips. He pays agents and shares them with other rug dealers whom he has gotten to know. His travels have taken him to India, China, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Romania and Nepal. He's also been to Hanover, Germany, one of the biggest rug markets in Europe.
"I try to learn enough about the country and the various tribes so not to show my ignorance," Asadorian said. "When I'm in one of these villages, I eat and drink what is offered me so I don't offend them."
Shipments of 30 bales each, averaging seven to 10 rugs a bale, are imported four times a year.
During the Iran import embargo, Asadorian was used as an expert by U.S. immigration officials. They brought him rugs confiscated at the airport to see if the rugs had been imported illegally from Iran.
Besides retail sales in St. Louis, the company sells rugs wholesale to dealers in Atlanta and on both coasts. A large percentage of the business locally is in the St. Louis metropolitan area, with much of it in west St. Louis County. Customers also come from Carbondale, Jefferson City, Cape Girardeau and Kansas City.
Executives: Rich Asadorian, 49, is co-owner and in charge of imports and sales. A native of Granite City, he graduated from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston in 1973 with a degree in business and finance management. After living in an area of Granite City where there is an Armenian community, he moved to Missouri with his wife and two sons two years ago.
His cousin, Stephen Asadorian, 32, is co-owner and in charge of the restoration and cleaning side of the business. A graduate of McCluer North High School, he entered the family business in 1986.
The other full-time employees are Dave Ellis, who has been with the firm 49 years, and Teo Brick, a native of Bosnia. Ali Shirazian, a native of Iran, weaves part- time restoring rugs.
Company history: Rich Asadorian's grandfather, Stephon, emigrated from Armenia in the early 1900s. One of four brothers to come to the United States, he went to Granite City to work at the American Steel Foundry.
He also began doing repair work at night on rugs for May Department Stores and Scruggs, Vandervoort and Barney and in 1926 opened the first Asadorian store, featuring elegant oriental rugs. He also had a brother in New York who sold rugs when New York served as the port of entry in those days.
Rich's father, Edward, and his uncle, Higus, took over the business from the founder, with Edward joining the company in 1944 after serving in World War II.
When Rich graduated from college, he entered the business. "I came in with my own ideas about how to run the business, and my dad and uncle gave me just enough rope to hang myself."
Asadorian was helped by the strong economy in the late '90s and in 2000 and by a trend to more hardwood floors in homes. "In the 1950s, everyone went for broadloom carpet," he said. "With the development of new coatings to treat hardwood floors, more people wanted hardwood floors. The boom in new housing also helped us."
Revenue: Sales hit $1 million in 2000, a growth of 8 percent over 1999. Revenue jumped 12 percent from 1998 to 1999.
Professional services: Lee Koch at First Bank handles financial dealings; Pat Badalamenti of Badalamenti & Associates is the accountant; Laura Slay at Laura Slay & Associates Inc. does public relations and marketing. Asadorian does not deal with a law firm on a regular basis.
The future: April 28, the company will have a showing of rugs from Iran, including collectibles made by villagers. Asadorian also plans to revisit Iran later this year, now that the embargo has been lifted.
rjanecke@bizjournals.com"
St. Louis Business Journal: Reza Jafarian of St. Louis-based Asadorian Rug Co. Inc.
St. Louis Business Journal: Life after the attacks - 2001-09-24: "Life after the attacks
Muslims face personal assaults; others deal with delayed shipments from Middle Eastern suppliers
St. Louis Business Journal - September 21, 2001by Margaret Jackson
Since Reza Jafarian left Iran Monday, the most difficult thing he's had to deal with as an American Muslim is tightened airport security.
Jafarian, who handles the wholesale business for St. Louis-based Asadorian Rug Co. Inc., flew from Tehran, Iran, where he was visiting family; to Frankfurt, Germany; to a business meeting in Dusseldorf, Germany, where security officers asked to check his bag.
"Normally, they would never do that," said Jafarian, a Muslim originally from Iran. "But I would assume that if you have a Middle Eastern appearance or features, you would be more likely to be stopped."
He was not stopped when he entered the United States through Chicago's O'Hare International Airport before continuing to St. Louis.
"I'm 45 years old and I have gray hair, and I don't look like one of those young kids," Jafarian said. "If I was in my mid-20s and had real Middle Eastern features, I probably would have been stopped. I've heard from some other friends who haven't been treated nicely."
Meanwhile, Jafarian's boss Rich Asadorian, co-owner of Asadorian Rug, said he hasn't been harassed, but is worried about his third-generation family business that imports and exports rugs. Sales hit $1 million last year.
Business had picked up after the United States lifted an embargo earlier this year on goods imported from Iran, including Persian rugs. Now, Asadorian is uncertain whether he'll be allowed to continue importing from there.
"If Iran doesn't cooperate, they might say we're going back to the embargo," said Asadorian, whose grandfather emigrated from Armenia in the early 1900s. "It's too soon to say what's going to happen."
Asadorian still is expecting shipments of rugs and yarn (for the repair end of his business) that have been delayed since the attack.
While Asadorian was born in the United States and his family is Christian, he also could be the target of attacks against people who appear to be from the Middle East.
Anna Crosslin, president and chief executive of the International Institute of Metropolitan St. Louis, said it's not just Muslims who are likely targets of hate crimes. Anyone who has the appearance of being from the Middle East could feel the backlash from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"It's people who the community perceives as being Middle Eastern -- not just those dressed in the traditional garb," she said. "People can't tell the difference between our Afghan refugees, Afghans who are Christians, Indians or Pakistanis."
Others haven't been as fortunate as Asadorian and Jafarian.
Dr. Ghazala Hayat, a neurologist on the Saint Louis University faculty, said she and her family have received threatening phone calls at home. The callers have said, "Watch out, we're coming for you," or "Why don't you leave the country?
Hayat, who also is the chairperson of the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis, said the calls scared her 20-year-old daughter so much she was afraid to open the door -- a reaction Hayat discourages for the region's more than 50,000 Muslim residents.
"I'm telling the whole community to be careful, but please go out," Hayat said. "Don't go into a shell. There are a lot of people who don't know what the religion is about, and they won't if you don't tell them."
So far, there has been at least one report of physical abuse against a person from the Middle East. A 31-year-old immigrant from Jordan said he was beaten and hit on the head with a tire iron in a fight with a man and a woman because of his Middle Eastern heritage.
Crosslin said many of her organization's clients also have been verbally harassed, but there hasn't been any physical violence.
"People don't understand how broad Islam is and how you can have radical elements the same way you do in Christianity," she said. "We don't think all Christians are terrible because some radical Christians go out and shoot doctors and bomb abortion clinics. But that broad brush is being applied to all of Islam."
Malik Fazil, who owns a local leather importing and distribution business, said he hasn't received any threatening calls or been the target of any physical violence. Still, he's nervous enough that he asked that the name of business not to be published.
"Under other circumstances, I would be happy to get the free publicity," Fazil said. "I'm just a little nervous. There are strange people who you don't know what they can do. You don't want to be part of that statistic.
"People need to realize that we are just like them, and we are part of the system. If my neighbor his hurting, I'm hurting, too."
Fazil said he's also concerned that his nine-year-old company, which manufactures leather products in Pakistan and imports them to the United States, will suffer. The company has revenue of more than $2 million.
"The shipments are delayed," he said. "Our customers have been very understanding and cooperative with us -- nobody has canceled any orders. But our last shipment was a week ago -- just before the attack."
Mohammed Ibrahim, president of Ibrahim Engineering, said many of his clients have called to make sure he's OK. Ibrahim is only aware of a few incidents where his fellow Muslims have been treated badly -- and then it was more of a dirty look than cruel comments or physical abuse.
He hopes other Americans understand that the terrorists could not technically be Muslim.
"Anyone who would do that is not a Muslim," Ibrahim said. "The religion doesn't teach that you would hurt other people. You don't even hurt your enemy like that."
Zia Mahmood, a Muslim from Bangladesh, has not been a victim of harassment or intimidation, but the financial consultant at the St. Louis branch of the Royal Alliance brokerage firm said it's been difficult to carry on with business as usual.
"I'm so down, and I feel so bad about it," he said. "You don't feel like talking about business."
Mahmood, who has been in St. Louis for 21 years, has both Muslim and non-Muslim clients. He said there's been no distinction in the way each group has responded from a financial standpoint.
"Everybody is uncertain as to what to do," he said. A few people wanted to get out when the market opened Monday, but it's a very small portion. Some people want to be in just to show their support."
mjackson@bizjournals.com"
Muslims face personal assaults; others deal with delayed shipments from Middle Eastern suppliers
St. Louis Business Journal - September 21, 2001by Margaret Jackson
Since Reza Jafarian left Iran Monday, the most difficult thing he's had to deal with as an American Muslim is tightened airport security.
Jafarian, who handles the wholesale business for St. Louis-based Asadorian Rug Co. Inc., flew from Tehran, Iran, where he was visiting family; to Frankfurt, Germany; to a business meeting in Dusseldorf, Germany, where security officers asked to check his bag.
"Normally, they would never do that," said Jafarian, a Muslim originally from Iran. "But I would assume that if you have a Middle Eastern appearance or features, you would be more likely to be stopped."
He was not stopped when he entered the United States through Chicago's O'Hare International Airport before continuing to St. Louis.
"I'm 45 years old and I have gray hair, and I don't look like one of those young kids," Jafarian said. "If I was in my mid-20s and had real Middle Eastern features, I probably would have been stopped. I've heard from some other friends who haven't been treated nicely."
Meanwhile, Jafarian's boss Rich Asadorian, co-owner of Asadorian Rug, said he hasn't been harassed, but is worried about his third-generation family business that imports and exports rugs. Sales hit $1 million last year.
Business had picked up after the United States lifted an embargo earlier this year on goods imported from Iran, including Persian rugs. Now, Asadorian is uncertain whether he'll be allowed to continue importing from there.
"If Iran doesn't cooperate, they might say we're going back to the embargo," said Asadorian, whose grandfather emigrated from Armenia in the early 1900s. "It's too soon to say what's going to happen."
Asadorian still is expecting shipments of rugs and yarn (for the repair end of his business) that have been delayed since the attack.
While Asadorian was born in the United States and his family is Christian, he also could be the target of attacks against people who appear to be from the Middle East.
Anna Crosslin, president and chief executive of the International Institute of Metropolitan St. Louis, said it's not just Muslims who are likely targets of hate crimes. Anyone who has the appearance of being from the Middle East could feel the backlash from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"It's people who the community perceives as being Middle Eastern -- not just those dressed in the traditional garb," she said. "People can't tell the difference between our Afghan refugees, Afghans who are Christians, Indians or Pakistanis."
Others haven't been as fortunate as Asadorian and Jafarian.
Dr. Ghazala Hayat, a neurologist on the Saint Louis University faculty, said she and her family have received threatening phone calls at home. The callers have said, "Watch out, we're coming for you," or "Why don't you leave the country?
Hayat, who also is the chairperson of the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis, said the calls scared her 20-year-old daughter so much she was afraid to open the door -- a reaction Hayat discourages for the region's more than 50,000 Muslim residents.
"I'm telling the whole community to be careful, but please go out," Hayat said. "Don't go into a shell. There are a lot of people who don't know what the religion is about, and they won't if you don't tell them."
So far, there has been at least one report of physical abuse against a person from the Middle East. A 31-year-old immigrant from Jordan said he was beaten and hit on the head with a tire iron in a fight with a man and a woman because of his Middle Eastern heritage.
Crosslin said many of her organization's clients also have been verbally harassed, but there hasn't been any physical violence.
"People don't understand how broad Islam is and how you can have radical elements the same way you do in Christianity," she said. "We don't think all Christians are terrible because some radical Christians go out and shoot doctors and bomb abortion clinics. But that broad brush is being applied to all of Islam."
Malik Fazil, who owns a local leather importing and distribution business, said he hasn't received any threatening calls or been the target of any physical violence. Still, he's nervous enough that he asked that the name of business not to be published.
"Under other circumstances, I would be happy to get the free publicity," Fazil said. "I'm just a little nervous. There are strange people who you don't know what they can do. You don't want to be part of that statistic.
"People need to realize that we are just like them, and we are part of the system. If my neighbor his hurting, I'm hurting, too."
Fazil said he's also concerned that his nine-year-old company, which manufactures leather products in Pakistan and imports them to the United States, will suffer. The company has revenue of more than $2 million.
"The shipments are delayed," he said. "Our customers have been very understanding and cooperative with us -- nobody has canceled any orders. But our last shipment was a week ago -- just before the attack."
Mohammed Ibrahim, president of Ibrahim Engineering, said many of his clients have called to make sure he's OK. Ibrahim is only aware of a few incidents where his fellow Muslims have been treated badly -- and then it was more of a dirty look than cruel comments or physical abuse.
He hopes other Americans understand that the terrorists could not technically be Muslim.
"Anyone who would do that is not a Muslim," Ibrahim said. "The religion doesn't teach that you would hurt other people. You don't even hurt your enemy like that."
Zia Mahmood, a Muslim from Bangladesh, has not been a victim of harassment or intimidation, but the financial consultant at the St. Louis branch of the Royal Alliance brokerage firm said it's been difficult to carry on with business as usual.
"I'm so down, and I feel so bad about it," he said. "You don't feel like talking about business."
Mahmood, who has been in St. Louis for 21 years, has both Muslim and non-Muslim clients. He said there's been no distinction in the way each group has responded from a financial standpoint.
"Everybody is uncertain as to what to do," he said. A few people wanted to get out when the market opened Monday, but it's a very small portion. Some people want to be in just to show their support."
mjackson@bizjournals.com"
Monday, March 06, 2006
Iran mulling to advertise Persian Carpet on BBC
Iran mulling to advertise Persian Carpet on BBC: "Tehran: 18:52 , 2006/03/06
Iran mulling to advertise Persian Carpet on BBC
TEHRAN, Mar. 6 (MNA) -– In its bid to promote its products, namely the hand-woven Persian Carpets, Iran’s National Carpet Center is planning to give a teaser ad to the BBC.
Iran’s National Carpet Center is mulling over the conclusion of a contract with BBC to air a commercial on the luxurious hand-woven carpets produced in Iran, a report quoted Morteza Faraji chairman of the center as saying here on Monday.
He commented that technical issues of the project have been studied. However, the work calls for more considerations on the part of its other aspects. “Other issues including the political aspects of the work should be reviewed”, he further explained.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national public service broadcaster of the United Kingdom."
Iran mulling to advertise Persian Carpet on BBC
TEHRAN, Mar. 6 (MNA) -– In its bid to promote its products, namely the hand-woven Persian Carpets, Iran’s National Carpet Center is planning to give a teaser ad to the BBC.
Iran’s National Carpet Center is mulling over the conclusion of a contract with BBC to air a commercial on the luxurious hand-woven carpets produced in Iran, a report quoted Morteza Faraji chairman of the center as saying here on Monday.
He commented that technical issues of the project have been studied. However, the work calls for more considerations on the part of its other aspects. “Other issues including the political aspects of the work should be reviewed”, he further explained.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national public service broadcaster of the United Kingdom."
Iran mulling to advertise Persian Carpet on BBC
Iran mulling to advertise Persian Carpet on BBC: "Tehran: 18:52 , 2006/03/06
Iran mulling to advertise Persian Carpet on BBC
TEHRAN, Mar. 6 (MNA) -– In its bid to promote its products, namely the hand-woven Persian Carpets, Iran’s National Carpet Center is planning to give a teaser ad to the BBC.
Iran’s National Carpet Center is mulling over the conclusion of a contract with BBC to air a commercial on the luxurious hand-woven carpets produced in Iran, a report quoted Morteza Faraji chairman of the center as saying here on Monday.
He commented that technical issues of the project have been studied. However, the work calls for more considerations on the part of its other aspects. “Other issues including the political aspects of the work should be reviewed”, he further explained.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national public service broadcaster of the United Kingdom."
Iran mulling to advertise Persian Carpet on BBC
TEHRAN, Mar. 6 (MNA) -– In its bid to promote its products, namely the hand-woven Persian Carpets, Iran’s National Carpet Center is planning to give a teaser ad to the BBC.
Iran’s National Carpet Center is mulling over the conclusion of a contract with BBC to air a commercial on the luxurious hand-woven carpets produced in Iran, a report quoted Morteza Faraji chairman of the center as saying here on Monday.
He commented that technical issues of the project have been studied. However, the work calls for more considerations on the part of its other aspects. “Other issues including the political aspects of the work should be reviewed”, he further explained.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national public service broadcaster of the United Kingdom."
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