Arizona flooring retailer Baker Bros., with seven locations, reported a large increase in rug sales in 2021.
SPECIAL REPORT -- In what has been a record-setting 2021 for many flooring retailers, the rugs category is shining bright.
The reason behind the success is rather obvious, say dealers and manufacturers, who cite the dominance of hard surface in the home and the need to accessorize it with rugs for added style/design and comfort.
“We’ve had the best year in rug sales that we’ve ever had,” said Matt Wien, sales manager for Marshall Carpet One Floor & Home and Rug Gallery, Mayfield Heights, Ohio, echoing a sentiment shared by others. “We are up about 20 percent over last year, and what’s driving it is the popularity of hard surface flooring and people wanting to update their homes.”
In terms of what’s selling, Wien said, 8x10 and larger rugs, and those priced between $1,500 and $3,000, have really taken off.
From coast to coast, dealers say activity was brisk this year, with no slowdown in the fourth quarter.
The Marshall Carpet One team get a shipment of hand-knotted area rugs ready for display in the showroom.
Baker Bros., which has eight locations in metro Phoenix, has remained committed to the area rug category even when other dealers bailed out. Its steadfastness has been rewarded with quarter-after-quarter growth, including a “very big” increase in 2021, according to Phil Koufidakis, president. “There are two issues driving sales. One, the continued increase in consumers updating their homes. Rugs are a finishing touch. And two, the trend over the last several years of an increase in hard surface sales. Customers are adding to their décor and introducing softness by adding or replacing existing rugs.” Koufidakis noted that 8x10 and larger rugs continue to flourish.
“There continues to be demand for transitional, but also we’re seeing a move back toward non-traditional traditional rugs—meaning rugs with a twist on traditional designs and colors updated from traditional red and black.” Rugs at or slightly below $1,000 for 8x10s continue to be the most popular price points, Koufidakis added.
Naples, Florida-based Hadinger Flooring, with more than 30,000 square feet of showroom space and a 21,000 square-foot warehouse, took advantage of its size and offering in 2021.
“On written business, we are poised to be up 30 percent in rugs for the year and I attribute that, at least in part, to our large stock of rugs,” said Susan Hadinger, president. “With the current supply chain issues, stock is king and fabricated rugs are a close second as carpet is usually readily available to be fabricated. Also, rugs are still a relatively quick change that people can make in their homes, and again the fact that we have so many to choose from draws people.”
Hadinger said the activity is strong for 8x10s, however 2x3s up to 12x15s including round rugs and runners are faring well. “We sell everything from machine-made to hand-knotted rugs,” she said. “Our sweet spot is probably the tufted rugs as fewer stores carry or specialize in the midrange rugs. We are also doing a bigger fabricated business as the broadloom lines improve styles and designs and people are looking for more specialized sizes.”
Hadinger Flooring, based in Naples, Florida, stocked up on rugs and the move has paid dividends.
For The Rug Rack & Home Décor in Chattanooga, Tennessee, 2021 exceeded all expectations according to co-owner Miriam Thompson, who added, “We are still seeing better quality goods being sold and more custom purchases to fit the client’s particular style.”
Sales records were set at Myers Carpet, a 64-year-old, full-service flooring retailer with locations in Atlanta, Nashville and Dalton. Myers sells hard and soft surface flooring, but it was carpet and rugs that fueled business this year, according to president Rick Myers. “Because all three of our stores have custom rug workrooms, our sales were strong in both carpet sales and rug sales produced in our own in-house workrooms.”
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All three Myers Carpets locations feature an in-house custom rug finishing workshop and the category helped fuel
record sales.
Myers said his stores have enjoyed great success selling larger rugs than in past years—with 9 x 12s and 10 x 13s, in the $1,000 to $1,500 range--doing particularly well. However, by leveraging his custom workrooms, he’s able to make and sell even larger rug sizes. “For example, we recently finished and delivered a custom rug for the Ford Motor Company’s new convention center in Detroit that was 28"x 87”.
Both hard and soft surfaces fueled Myers Flooring record sales in 2021.
2022 SALES OUTLOOK
Flooring dealers see no reason why sales momentum won’t carry over into 2022. Based on his 2021 sales being over $7 million ahead of 2020, Myers said he remains confident of a strong 2022.
Ditto for Marshall’s Wien, who said, “The outlook is very positive as our hard surface sales are still strong. Walk-in traffic is also strong with an emphasis on shopping local.”
Hadinger said that based on what they have seen in the latter part of this year, “we expect and hope that business will continue to be brisk in 2022.”
Baker Bros. is similarly bullish. Asked for his assessment of the first part of 2022 based on his fourth-quarter results, Koufidakis said simply, “Very optimistic.”