MOMENI HOSTS GRAND OPENING FOR
NEW 13,000 SQ. FT. ATLANTA SHOWROOM

It's official! Reza Momeni cuts ribbon at new AmericasMart showroom. Witnesses included the Momeni gang, plus AmericasMart execs Chas Sydney, left, and Jeff Portman, second left.

Mark Gonsenhauser of Mark Gonsenhauser's Rug & Carpet Superstore, Virginia Beach, VA, is welcomed to the new shoroom by Momeni's Ali Momeni, left, and Reza Momeni, right.

The guys from RugsDirect.com are always up beat and smiling. A welcome addition to any party. From left, Ali Momeni, vice president of Momeni; Randy Kremer, president of RugsDirect, Winchester, VA; Momeni's Betty Ann Gildea; Bill Martin, sales veep of Rugs Direct, and Austin Craley, vice president of sales for Momeni.

Momeni's Ray Ehsani, center, with Kathryn Sergenian, left, and Cindy Howarth of Sergenian's, Madison, WI.

Georgia LaGrange, center, buyer for NetShops, Omaha, with Momeni's Ty Strader, left, and Melanie Hayim, right.

From left: Betty Ann Gildea and Ray Ehsani of Momeni with Bill Hirsch, president of Oriental Rugs, Richmond, VA. Bill tells us he was in Atlanta to buy for his "Staying IN Business Sale," which started Jan 1. "And there's no end to it," said Bill. "We want people to know we will always be there to back up our products and serve them in the future." Noe THAT'S the spirit!

A lovely and loving couple: Bob and Katherine Gehrke
 of The Look, a furniture and rug retailer in San Antonio, TX,

Austin Craley, left, vice president of sales for Momeni, shares a moment with perennial market goer Richard Habib, president of Alexander's in San Francisco. If they gave out awards for attendance at markets, Richard would certainly get a Gold Star!

Ralph Long, center, of Momeni, with Carla and Gerald Gerami of Rug Gallery by Gerami's, Lafayette, LA.

Ali Momeni, center, embraces good friends and customers Mahnaz Saberi, right, and Bruce Saberi, left of Azia Oriental Rugs, Columbus, OH.

From left: Mark and Carlisle Stone of Carpet Concepts, Inc. Jacksonville, FL, with Momeni sales agent Jeff Koehler.

Austin Craley, Momeni sales vp, left, and Ralph Long, Momeni sales rep, right, welcome Valeri Roberts and Karran Kuntz of Roberts Carpet & Fine Floors, Houston.

Rob Leahy, left, of Fine Rugs of Charleston, with Hadi Sattari of Momeni. Rob is really excited about his new 5,000 sq. ft. store which opened a couple months ago. It took guts to open a new location in a downturn, but Rob says business is great, particularly with designers.

People came from all over the country to help Momeni celebrate. From left, Richard Kirishian of The Rug Co., Spokane, WA, Momeni New England rep Jacqui Mathers, and  industry consultant Sy Mahfuz. owner of Persian Rug Galleries, Nashua, NH.

From left: Momeni's Angela Chu, Niko Papadopoulos of Sergenian's, Madison, WI, and Mark O'Neill, Momeni's Chicago-land sales representative.

From left: Pamela Laying, Roots Home & Garden, Provincetown, MA; Ray Ehsani of Momeni; Maryann McCarthy of Roots, and Kipp Livingston and Jacqui Mather of Concord Imports, which represents Momeni in New England.

Reza Momeni, right, president of Momeni, welcomes Scott Hayim to the new 13,000 sq. ft. Momeni showroom -- now one of the anchor showrooms on the Fifth Floor of AmericasMart. Hayim is president of Rug Decor stores, a division of CCA Global, St. Louis.

Head of hospitality for Momeni's opening night party was Khalid Ighbal, who is everyone's favorite Momeni exec!

BAD TIMES CAN'T DIM THE SMILES
OF ATLANTA MARKET PEOPLE

At Couristan: Steve Codella, left, Couristan senior vp and
 Julie Jones, Couristan territory rep, right, greet  Marc
Martorano, vp of carpet and related products, and Dana
 Ebel, area rug product manager of  Avalon Carpet Tile & Flooring, Cherry Hill, NJ.

At Amer Rugs, from left: Dileep Singh, newly named sales manager Gerald Williams; general manager Mehmood Salam, Shobhit Mehrotra, and sales agent Mark Bemis.
 

Doug Cahill, left, and Allen Anderson of Anderson's in Hattiesburg, MS. Allen tells us that although the company is challenged by the economy, "We're here to make sure we're fresh when the consumer comes back into the stores. Retailers who aren't been able to refresh their assortments will be the ones who are in trouble as we come out of the recession."

Discussing Oriental Weavers' new rug pad line are, from left, OW's Woody Woodrum, Mike Kishline and David Kishline. Mike is president of Emphasis on Rugs in Evansville, IN, and Dad David is executive assistant.

Gil Kemp, left, president of Home Decorators Collection,
St. Louis, MO, with Mike Riley, president of
Oriental Weavers of America.

Jim Bennight, left, of Flooring America in Tallahassee, with Steve Bright, territory manager for Couristan.

DUE PROCESS PARTY
HONORS NEW TUFTS COLLECTION
WITH KRAVET CARPET

David Grasse, right, welcomes Bruce Solomon and Harris Cohen of Country Carpet, Syosset, NY. The party launched the new Tufts collection, which Due Process is marketing in cooperation with Kravet Carpet.

Nicholas Lomangino, vice president of floor covering for Kravet Carpets, center, with the ever-upbeat twosome of Sy Mahfuz, left, and Steve Boodakian, right. Mahfuz and Boodakian are partners in the MERA consulting group. Mahfuz is also the owner of Persian Rug Galleries in Nashua, NH and Boodakian is  president of KoKo Boodakian & Sons Rugs in Winchester, MA.

Duane Henderson of Due Process, left, with Louis
Tarantino of Carpet Source, Winter Park, FL.

The Gang's all here! Sims Bray, vp and publisher of Veranda magazine, left, and Katie Brockman of Veranda, join the Due Process guys, from second left: Aaron Ward, Duane Henderson, David Grasse, Mike Massman and Joseph Scotto.

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Arash  Yaraghi, left, Safavieh principal; Couture Division Designer Suzanne Kasler; Richard Zolt, Stark Carpet Corp., and Cyrus Yaraghi, Safavieh principal.

Couture Division designer David Easton, second right, with Ehsan Siddiqui, left, and Shawn Siddiqui of Bokara Oriental Rug Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL, and Ken Shahi, right, of Safavieh.

Jamie...meet Jamie!
Couture Division Designer Jamie Drake, center, says hello to Jamie Carney, left, president and ceo of Rugs Done Right, Sudbury, MA, and Audrey Dunham, right,  senior account manager of Rugs Done Right.

Thomas O'Brien, left, with Safavieh principal Arash Yaraghi. O'Brien was the first designer to be a part of what is now known as the Safavieh Couture Division of aspirational rug designs.

From left: Cyrus Yaraghi, Safavieh principal; Maria Conrad, rug buyer for Bloomingdales, New York; Scott Kraus, Safavieh regional manager, and Walter Creamer, business manager for Bloomingdale's rug department.

John Stark, left, of Stark Carpet Corp., New York, with Cyrus Yaraghi, Safavieh principal.

Couture Division designer Thomas O'Brien, center, with Fred Hulett and Lewis Fancher of Hulett's, Meridien, MS.

 Paige Ward, left,  of Rugs Underfoot, Richmond, VA, shares the cheer with Safavieh principal, Cyrus Yaraghi.

From left: Ken Shadi of Safavieh; AnthonyTinghitella of Smythe & Cortland, Vero Beach, FL; Yervant Varjabedian of Safavieh, and John Fulcher of Smythe & Cortland.

Jody Shapiro, left, and Jeff Lin, right of Safavieh with with Ehsan Siddiqui and Shawn Siddiqui of Bokara Oriental Rug Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL,

 Couture Division Designer Jamie Drake, left, welcomes
Bella Baitel and Gary Baitel of Gershon Carpet, Inc.,
Dania Beach, FL.

Designer Jamie Drake, center, with Jennifer Price, left, and James Smith of Dixon Smith Interiors, Baton Rouge, LA.

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LOLOI CELEBRATES FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
IN  7,000 SQ. FT. EXPANDED SHOWROOM

Good Ol' Rock 'n' Roll band got everyone in the party mood.

Gracious host Amir Loloi, second left, welcome Dave Lammers of The Rug Gallery, Cincinnati, sales rep Dave Calderwood, and Sam Presnell, president of The Rug Gallery.

 Where there's Cajuns, there's ALWAYS a party! Lissa Wyman, editor and publisher of Rugnews.com is surrounded by this fun bunch from Lafayette, LA. From left: Gerald Gerami of Rug Gallery by Gerami's;  Danny Vendetto and Keith Poimboeuf of Punta Rug Gallery, and Carla Gerami of Rug Gallery by Gerami's.

 From left: Abed Keddo of Eastlake Rug Gallery, Chula Vista, CA.; Loloi sales agent Gilbert La Rowe, and industry guest Suren Chaudhary.

Mike Straaton, president of Straaton, Inc., Chicago, left, and Kim Pettigrew of In Detail, Dallas, TX. Loloi has strategic alliances with both Straaton and In Detail, which represent multiple home furnishings and decorative accessories lines.

From left: Gary Williams and Evan Dorman of Summer Classics, Birmingham, AL, with Michael Schneider of Loloi.

Linda Burnside of LGB Interiors, Columbia, SC, and Loloi sales agent  Randy Masters of Home Accessories, Inc., Charflotte, NC.

From left: Chas Sydney, senior vice president of AmericasMart Atlanta; Amir Loloi, president of Loloi; friendly competitor Michael Kalaty of Kalaty Rugs; Shawn Nili of NW Rugs, Agoura Hills, CA, and Mark Moran of NW Rugs.

Amir Loloi, founder and president of Loloi Rugs ,and Lissa Wyman, editor and publisher of Rugnews.com have a quiet moment to contemplate the NEXT round of market fun.
We'll party on ....in Las Vegas!

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WHEN PEOPLE GET TOGETHER,
 THE MARKET IS ALWAYS GOOD!

 Bill Barlage, regional manager of Nourison, left, demonstrates the new 50 to Infinity program with Dee and Don Chiavetta ofd mcDhurries, Rocky River, OH.

David Appell, left, of Shaw Living, with Glennis and Steve McDonough of United Textiles, Bessemer, AL

John Shepherd, 828 President, left, welcome Paige Ward and Keith Andes of Shades of Light, Rugs Underfoot, Richmond, VA.

 At Kane, from left: sales reps Bill Mitcheson, Don Baker and Ed Sammons with home office honchos Stephen Hoberman, Kane's rug division marketing manager and Daniel Drew, Kane's midwest regional sales manager.

Gabriel Farahan, center,  of Royal Gallery of Rugs, Indianapolis, with Nourison principals Stephen Peykar, left, and Alex Peykar, right

Skip Kind, left, of M.S. Kind Associates, sales rep in the Chicagoland area, with Paul Veseli, president of VesLevi, which opened a new sixth floor showroom at AmericasMart.

At Trans-Ocean, from Left: Lisa Street, Steve Scott and Michelle Menendez of  Linen Source (The Thompson Group), Tampa, with Randy Watts, regional sales manager for Trans-Ocean.

 The three Amici that are the top friends and management of Amici Imports: Chuck Cashin, left, Eva DiAmo, center, and Jeff de Santis, right.

Tom Morris, national sales manager of 828 International, left, with Leyla Baradaran and Keivan Hashemi of Palace Rug Gallery, Bellevue and Seattle, WA.

Bob Kirby, center, president of Vinings Imports with trading partners Nikki Kapoor and Arun Kapoor of Kapoor Carpets, Jaipur, India.

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WHEN PEOPLE ARE SMILING,
YOU FORGET THE RECESSION BLUES!

And baby makes three: Baby Nicoletta Mazarakis attends her first Atlanta Market with mom and dad Angel and Steve Mazarakis of Hellenic Rug Imports. Nicoletta was born at the end of November. Congrats to the proud parents.

Neil Battle, second right, Surya sales rep in the Chicago area, greets this jolly crowd from Peerless Imported Rugs of Chicago. From left: Philip Liss, Debbie Meader, Battle, and Brian Gilbert. On an historical note, we've been covering Peerless since our days as managing editor of Floor Covering Weekly, and Phil has never lost his enthusiasm for the industry.

Lee Harounian, center, a principal of Harounian Rug Imports, welcomes David Buffington, left and Dan Rucker, right, of Brentwood Interiors, Brentwood, TN.

At Kas, from left to right: sales rep Thomas Johnson; Jay Kumar of Carpet & Rug Superstore, headquartered in Charlotte, NC; Brandon Culpepper, Kas national sales manager, and Hari Tummala, Kas executive vice president.

 Sheila Altenstadter, regional sales manager, left, and Doug Ernewein, vice president of product development, right, welcome Stephen and Shannon Hobbs of Lexington's Magic Carpets, Lexington, KY

Satya Tiwari, right, president of Surya, greets  Dave Lammers , left, and Sam Presnell of The Rug Gallery, Cincinnati.

Jim Thompson, left, vice president of Central Oriental division of Natco Home, with Masoud Pirouz of Caspian Rug Co., Norcross, GA.

 United Weavers Cindy Kottwitz of Galleria Furniture in Oklahoma City with Samir Abu Hadba, general manager of United Weavers.

David Moss, sales agent for Jaipur with our old friends Gerald and Carla Gerami of Rug Gallery by Gerami's, Lafayette, LA. Gerald and Carla really worked this market. Seems like we ran into them in nearly every showroom.

Colors of India, the film produced by Samad Bros.l to show the beauty and craftsmanship of handknotted rugs, played continuously at the company's booth. One of the most popular spots on the temporary floor, the film  generated a lot of industry interest. From left: David Samad and Malcolm Samad, principals of Samad Brothers; Stephanie Schlund of Samad and Peter Fleigner, general manager of Care & Fair, Hamburg, Germany. Fleigner is also the general manager of the European Carpet Importers Association.

Kaleen  Grey Christie, center, Kaleen territory manager, center, with Stacy Thomas, left, and Diane Yates of Bass's Tradition House, Moultrie, GA.

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ONWARD AND UPWARD!!

At Paramount, from left: Atlanta showroom manager Maria King Hefner; Paramount principal Roshan Bhattari; director of sales and marketing Celeste Casale, and retailer Cyrus Mafi of Medallion Imports, Seattle. We extend our heartiest best wishes to Maria on her recent marriage!

The Agarwal family of Rug & Home of Gaffney, SC and Asheville, NC pay a visit to the Laddha family of LR Resources. From left: Rakesh Agarwal, S.K. Laddha, Aanchal Agarwal, Vaibhav Laddha, and Dolly Agarwal.

Frank Asef, center, of Windsor Rug Gallery, Atlanta, with  afi Amirian and Nader Shalom of Shalom Brothers.

Bernard  Drzasga of Gallerie One Distinctive Rugs in Chicago, with David Samad, left, and Malcolm Samad, right, principals of Samad Brothers. Samad's temporary floor booth was devoted to the new Colors of India film which demonstrates the beauty and value of Indian hand knotted carpet.

The adorable Marilyn and Gil Tenenbaum, center, of Volume Carpet, Brentwood, MO, visit with Tim Schantz, left, and Jon Morrison of Dynamic Rug.

Jaipur Asha Chaudhary, left, chief executive officer of Jaipur Rugs, with Tim Stroud, president of Stroud's, Raleigh, NC. "A lot of vendors have beautiful rugs, but service is what keeps customers coming back," says Stroud.

At Chandra, from left: Ravi Tiwari of Chandra; Ann Cash and Janice Sullivan of Sullivan Interiors, Benton, KY; and  Michael Heath and Chandra Tiwari of Chandra.

Always smiling and always most hospitable: Maurice Harounian, left; Michael Harounian, and Ebi Harounian, principals of Ebisons Harounian Imports.

Any guy with a bow tie can't be all bad: Joe Barkley, left, executive vice president of Kaleen, with Jim Bennight of Flooring America, Tallahasee, FL.

Kathy Cox, who recently joined Orian as vice president of sales, with regional manager Jim Howell.


Paul Vesely, right, president of Ves-Levi, with Toni Forrest
 of Interior Visions, Columbia, SC. It says on her business
card that Toni is an expert in feng shui.
And she looks so normal.

At Obeetee, from left: Brent Martin and Phil Menendian of K.A. Menendian, Columbus, OH; sales agent Dave Calderwood, and Vimal Kumar, vice president of sales for Obeetee.

See ya next time! Lissa Wyman, editor and publisher of Rugnews.com, center, joins Jim Thompson and Mary Jane O'Connell of Central Oriental to say farewell to Atlanta...and we'll catch you in Las Vegas at both the Surfaces Show, Feb. 3 to 5 at the Sands Convention Center, and the World Market Center, Feb. 9  to 12.

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