Many of the buyers you'll see were those who came early to shop Las Vegas Market area rug showrooms before heading over to the International Surface Event, where they looked for the latest in broadloom and hard surface floor coverings. As one VP told RugNews.com, "We only see those retailers at World Market Center when the two shows overlap."
Indeed, the halls at Las Vegas Market were brimming with members of buying group CCA Global, including those belonging Carpet One, Flooring America and to its prestigious IDG division.
That said, Loloi was very satisfied with the customer attendance, according to VP of sales Austin Craley. "We were very pleased with customer responses to our new products and overall product line at the January Las Vegas Market. 2020 is shaping up to be another exciting year at Loloi," he said.
Rachel Fasciani, vice president of licensing and marketing at Momeni, reported heavy traffic and a positive response to new product lines as well. "It was a great market -- and we attribute that in large part to our unique designs," she explained.
At Nourison's busy showroom, Giovanni Marra, director of marketing and digital strategy, said Las Vegas Market had good energy and traffic." It felt a little busier than past January markets. There was much interest in our latest introductions and best-sellers from previous shows, and we hope to have strong follow-up after market."
Jim Thompson at the Natco/Central Oriental showroom, reported, "A very busy market, especially the first couple of days. It was great and the big hit was our U.S.-made goods from Maine, a focus at the show."
And Kelly Moore of Karastan, one of the most consistently jam-packed showrooms, said "Energy permeated the Karastan showroom on Day 1, and the overall energy and optimism seemed to spread on the floor as the day went on."
In this two-part showroom tour, RugNews.com takes you behind the scenes for a look at the action. Below are Part 2 companies Karastan to Unique Loom. Be sure not to miss Part 1 where we cover companies Caravan Rug to Kaleen
here.
Karastan
Bruce Odette of Denver-based Carpet Exchange and Mike Riley of Karastan/Mohawk Home in front of the company's runaway hit Karastan Kiosk digital display unit at Las Vegas Market.
Kelly Moore of Karastan/Mohawk Home with John Murse, Lucy Murse and Jesse Murse of Rugs as Art in Sarasota, Florida checking out the rug maker's new Antiquity collection of printed, foldable rugs.
Loloi
Amir Loloi at the Loloi Las Vegas showroom with Victor Khalafi of Gabberts Furniture in Edina, Minnesota standing in front of a one of a kind flatweave rug prominently displayed at the showroom's main entrance.
Karen Ellman of Loloi, Kevin Berger, Cindy Berger, Brian Berger, Kelly Berger of Berger Interiors in Belle Plaine, Minnesota with Valerie Underwood, Loloi - in front of market hit Sumi collection rugs hand-knotted of wool pile.
Barry Wasserman of Loloi, Serena Hanks of Garden Fever in Portland, Oregon, Amir Loloi and Lori Vollmer of Garden Fever. Behind them is a display featuring Justina Blakeney x Loloi Playa collection rugs hand woven of jute and cotton.
LR Resources/Ox Bay Trading
Chris Nilan of LR Resources and its Ox Bay Trading home accents brand gives Darcene Burgess of Burgess Greenhouse in Hallock, Minnesota, a tour of the company's Las Vegas Market intros at the Ox Bay showroom at Next Step Reps.
Momeni
Betty Ann Gildeaof Momeni, Susan Thomas of Haynes Furniture, Aria Momeni, and Nathan Strelitz of the multi-store Haynes Furniture based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in front of the Lemieux et Cie collection's wool Doukkala rug (left) and Duar flatweave.
Igor Yakovenko of Airbase Carpet &Tile Mart in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey with Reza Momeni in front of a new high-low machine woven Tulum collection rug debuting at Las Vegas Market.
Natco/Central Oriental
Jim Thompson of Natco/Central Oriental in front of a hit of market design from the popular Made in America Structures collection, updating gray with hints of copper.
Nourison
John Stokes, Edmond Hagopian, Cassandra Brower, and Suzanne Hagopian of Michigan-based Hagopian World of Rugs with Andrew Peykar of Nourison in front of a new Starry Nights collection Persian-inspired erased design.
Brian Goodlow, Glen Fruchter and Steve Fruchter of Montauk Rug and Carpet in Farmingdale, NY, with Nourison's Bob Tucci. Behind them is the loom woven Twilight collection rug (TWI22) in wool and Luxcelle.
Oriental Weavers
Oriental Weavers' Angie Shook, marketing director, and Mandi Williams, design director, pose in front of a new Evolution rug (981A) with Andorra rug 7139A on the floor and runners from the Atlas collection. OW's design team created the artwork that intrigued Vegas shoppers -- all made with rug yarn.
Palmetto Living/Orian
Nebraska Furniture Mart's Patricia Wojtkiewicz, Nora Gomez, Rob Morrow of Orian and David Chambers of Nebraska Furniture Mart in front of Boucle collection rugs in the debut Origanic yarn system featuring recycled polypropylene.
Connie Post for Rizzy
Retail and product designer Connie Post showcases her area rugs for Las Vegas Market shoppers, highlighting a pure wool hand-tufted design (CNP105) in Pantone's color of the year 2020, Classic Blue.
Safavieh
Cyrus Yaraghi of Safavieh with Mahmud Jafri of Dover Rug & Home in Natick, Mass. are standing on one of Safavieh's well-priced hand knotted Oushak designs from a Las Vegas Market debut collection.
Ashley Yaraghi of Safavieh, Khristine Hicks of Overstock.com, Darius Yaraghi, Safavieh, and Overstock's Ted Baker and Christopher Smart take a pause from their line presentation for our Las Vegas Market photo essay.
Trans-Ocean by Liora Manne
Designer Liora Manne, shown here with the market hit Storm pattern in aqua from the hand-tufted wool Corsica range, introduced five new indoor rug collections for Trans-Ocean in a variety of weaves and styles at the January Las Vegas Market.
Unique Loom
Celeb designer and 'Queen of Bling' Donna Moss at the Unique Loom showroom with Justin Lopez, trade program director of Unique Loom at the rug maker's Building your Brand 101 event for designers.
Jill Meltzer Wiese of Just Jill Interiors in Durham, North Carolina, and Sabrina Soto with her new rugs at the Unique Loom showroom.