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Flooring Retailers Seize Opportunity to Grow Rug Presence

Rugnews.com surveys flooring retailers across the nation on their 2022 area rug outlook -- which remains bullish -- and learns they have big plans for the category.

RugNews.com Editors
2/9/2022
collage of flooring retailer execs
Flooring store retail execs, top row, from left to right, Phil Koufidakis, Baker Bros., Matt Wien, Marshall Carpet One
and Rug Gallery. and Miriam Thompson, The Rug Rack. Bottom row, left to right, Rick Myers, Myers Flooring,
Sam Presnell, The Rug Gallery, and Susan Hadinger, Hadinger Flooring

SPECIAL REPORT -- In this era of supply chain slowdowns and product outages, flooring retailers all agree that inventory is king. To that end, many dealers have increased their presence in area rugs, either working with vendors on custom rug programs or doing their own fabrication.

Rugnews.com surveys several flooring retailers across the nation on their 2022 outlook, current rug programs and how they are growing the category.

What is your 2022 outlook for rugs in your business?

Susan Hadinger, Hadinger Flooring: We had a great 2021 in rugs. We were up double digits and January was up as well. If things continue as they have, we will do very well in 2022. We are ordering rugs and selling them as soon as they come in.

Phil Koufidakis, Baker Bros.: Very positive. It is a relatively inexpensive way for customer to upgrade the look of their homes.

Rick Myers, Myers Flooring: Our goal in 2022 is the most ambitious in our 64 years of being in business. We recently purchased an 88,000 square foot building in Atlanta and plan to renovate it into the premier floor covering retail facility in the U.S. The remodel will include a 20,000 square foot floor covering showroom and a 60,000 square foot warehouse and workroom for the production of custom rugs.

Miriam Thompson, The Rug Rack: We have enjoyed considerable growth over the last two years. Maintaining that growth through 2022 would be awesome.

Matt Wien, Marshall Carpet One and Rug Gallery: We’d be happy to stay flat with last year. Any increase would be a huge bonus for us. Last year was the best for rugs we’ve had in the two decades we’ve been selling rugs.

Given what is happening in the market have you increased your area rug presence?

Hadinger: We have maintained our presence and are currently ordering rugs at a faster rate than normal.

Thompson: We have increased our presence of rugs and are carrying more inventory than in past years. Our geographical location continues to grow with people moving in from all regions of the country.

Wien: The footprint in our showroom has stayed the same. We have, however, brought in more vendors that offer custom rug programs with their broadloom displays so that we can leverage both offerings with our clients. This brings more varietal needs in styles and qualities in area rugs. 

Where is your growth coming from?

Hadinger: Our large stock is what drives people in, and our knowledgeable salespeople drive the business. Also, many people are moving to Florida so that has driven an increase in business as well.

Koufidakis: Having inventory has created growth. People like the pick and pay take it away aspect.

Sam Presnell, The Rug Gallery: Definitely the fabricated rugs from broadloom have seen the largest growth. Overall, we are up double digits over our goal.

Wien: Our growth is coming from hard surfaces.

What sizes/shapes are popular?

Hadinger: 8x10 is our most popular rug size, followed by 9x12 and 5x8. We also are among the few in town that carry runners, outdoor rugs and round rugs

Koufidakis: 8x10 and above are the most popular.

Thompson: We continue to see an increase in hand-knotted rugs and more unique styles. We are stocking more oversized rugs (over 9x12) and have found that we tend to sell more when we have them in stock. We have a 10x14 platform and this holds the larger machine-made rugs over 9x12 through 10x14 hand-knotted goods. The rectangular shape is still the most popular with gallery-size runners running a close second. Smaller sizes are lagging behind significantly.

Wien: Rectangle, 8x12 and 9x12 are popular.

Any changes to how you display/merchandise/inventory rugs?

Thompson: We have found having a few vignettes in our store really helps sell the rug. We try to tell a color story with our vignettes.

Wien: We have greatly increased our in-stock selection of larger format rugs and reduced the smaller formats.

Do you provide serging or binding services?

Hadinger: We have someone in-house doing both and he is very busy currently.

Koufidakis: Yes we do. This is a popular option for customers who want something more custom.

Myers: Yes, all three of our stores have custom rug workrooms.

Thompson: We have an excellent workroom for our very frequent binding and serging needs.

Wien: We’ve been binding and serging for decades, and that allows us to be a true full-service operation.
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