PARTY TIME AT SATURDAY NIGHT GALA

 A MAGNIFICENT TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!

Oriental Weavers group, from left: Stuart McBrayer, Jonathan Witt, Ahmed Salama, and Leslie and Andy Brumlow.

We can always count on the ladies from The Rug Place to make it to market, from left: Coleen O'Brien, Rug Place Jackson, MS; Nikki Dossey, Rug Place, Baton Rouge, LA, and Yvonne Kelleher, Rug Places, Baton Rouge, LA.

John and Lucy Murse of Rugs as Art,  Sarasota FL, are flanked by Garland Darnell, Obeetee East Coast Manager, and Gregg Scarlatta, Colonial Mills.

From left: Carolyn (Mrs. Steve) Roan,  Mike and Miriam Thompson of The Rug Rack, Chattanooga, and Valery Hegwood of Shaw Rugs.
 

Anne Carley, director of merchandising for Karastan, with Steve Roan, newly-named vice president of Karastan Rugs.

All in the family, from left: Safaviah's Cyrus, Jonathan and Arash Yaraghi
 

Ben Hakimian, left, president of Rugs America with Reza Momeni of Momeni and Tahla Khan of Opus Magnum.

From left: Nourison's Joyce Lowe, Julie Rosenblum, Kevin Foster, Mary Valentine and Sam Azhadi

The Creative Touch's  Fabienne Louis, left, Baris Bayrak, Muhterem Yildirim, Memet Gureli and Baki Indiz,
 

Nourison's Julie Rosenblum, left, with Bob and Pam Kirby
Bob is now representing Rugs by Robinson.

From left: Sharon Gartner, Rug Décor, Jacksonville, FL,:  Jennifer Brown, Shaw Rugs, and  Susan Chadwick, Rug Décor St. Augustine, FL 

 
Ali Chowdry, left,  of Michelian & Kohlberg with
John Thompson of Loloi

Left to right: William and Debbie Graham of Rug Decor, Fayetville, NC, and Nikki Sharp of Rug Decor, Tucson.


Rafi Amirian of Shalom Brothers, left, and
Ramin Mobayen of Mobayen

Blast from the past: Rod Short, right, and gal pal Sheila Stevenson. Rod, a well known rug designer and entrepreneur, is now working on developing a
new licensing program.

West Coast rug family really knows how to party. They're already planning a West Coast mini-market later in the year.

Chinese Acrobats remind us that life is always

a balancing act.

PIX OF MAGNIFICENT CARPET AWARD WINNERS
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1.11.10
 

 REAL SMILES AND REAL BIZ
AT ATLANTA RUG  MARKET

At Oriental Weavers, from left: Rakesh Agarwal of Rug & Home, Gaffney, SC and Asheville, NC; OW sales rep Michelle Hiznay; Dolly Agarwal and Aanchal Agarwal of Rug 7 Home, and Andy Brumlow, vice president of product development for Oriental Weavers.

At Couristan: Steve Bright, left, Couristan territory
manager, with Elizabeth and Charles Reason of Reason Floors, Austell, GA.

Daniel A. Buerkle of The Rug Market, Rochester, NY, with Capel's Jake Sweeters, left, and vp of marketing Bud Young.

Buddy pic: Loloi's Ray Ehsani, director of sales, left, and pal Doug Robetor, national sales manager.

That's Handsome Herb Cantor, center, president of Royal Ambassador sales agency, with two of his bff's, Iris Mendez , left, and Wendy Fried of G. Fried, Westbury, NY

Left to right: Gary Gerami, Gerami's, Lafayette, LA; David Appelt of Shaw, Gerald Gerami of Gerami's, Jim Curtin, Shaw Living sales manager; Allen Hannigan of Shaw, and Carla Gerami of Gerami's.

At Oriental Weavers: Sales manager Pat Muschamp, left,
and marketing manager Aaron Gray, right, welcome Kyle Johansen and Janet Throne from Hom Furniture, Minneapolis. Johansen and Throne were undaunted by
the Atlanta snow and ice. They're used to much worse.

Valerie Hegwood, left, Shaw Living territory manager, and Kay Thomas of Myer's Carpet, Dalton GA.

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ATLANTA MARKET PEOPLE WERE
FULL OF OPTIMISM
(REMEMBER THAT FEELING?)


John Shepherd, president of 828 International Trading, left, welcomes Lois and John Snider of The Great Rug Co., Houston.

Lee Harounian, left, a principal of Harounian Rugs International with Abe Jahromi of Elte, Toronto, Canada.

Neil Battle, left, sales agent for Surya, with retailer Tim Nenne of the Growing Grounds, Bloomington, IL.

At Amici: Chuck Cashin, left,  and Eva DiAdamo of Amici with Gary Cissel, head floor covering merchant at Nebraska Furniture Mart, Omaha.

Nancy London, center, soft flooring buyer for Sears, Chicago, with Rizzy Rugs' regional manager Kevin Welch, left, and Rizzy vice president, Mark Ferullo.

At Dalyn: Joan Murphy, center, of Carpet Mart, Burlington, NC, with Dalyn territory manager Greg Stafford, left, and David Adams, Dalyn executive vice president

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ATLANTA PEOPLE KICKED OFF
THE NEW YEAR IN STYLE

Ribbon Cutting at Momeni's new showroom. From left, Aria Momeni, Massoud Behruz of Caspian, Roz Rustigian, owner of Rustigian's, Providence, RI; Ty Strader of Momeni; Kathryn Sergenian of PS Rugs,a division of Sergenian's, Madison, WI;  Mark Maghsoudi of Gallery One, Chicago; Niko Papadopolis  of PS Rugs, Madison, WI; Reza Momeni of Momeni; Chas Sydney, senior vp of AmericasMart; Hadi Sattari of Momeni, and Austin Craley, vp of sales for Momeni.

At Jaipur, from left: Shawn Nili and Mark Moran of NW Rugs, Agoura Hills, CA; Asha Chaudhary, chief executive officers of Jaipur Rugs and Rahul Sharma. Asha and Rahul have just announced their engagement and will wed this Summer in India.

At Due Process Stable Trading Co., from left: Rob Leahy, owner of  Fine Rugs of Charleston, Charleston, SC; Doug Garfunkle vp-design director of Kravet, Due Process licensing partner; David Grasse, president of Due Process, and Norma Wilhoyt and Chris Noland of Fine Rugs of Charleston.

Kaleen's Joe Barkley, left, and David Knott, right,
welcome Linda Diorio and Karen Hunt of
The Taylor'd Room, Andover, MA


At Chandra, from left: Chandra Tiwari, Richard Folger, Michael Heath and Ravi Tiwari of Chandra with designer Diane Henebry of Peachtree City, GA.

The Orian gang says hi, from left: Kathy Cox, Wim di Pape, Paul Sullivan, Kurt Von De Bur and Scott Miller.

At Amer Rugs, from left: Shobhit Mehrotra, Mahesh Choudhary and Mark Arne.

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RUG PEOPLE KNOW HOW TO PARTY!

SAFAVIEH CELEBRATES OPENING
OF NEW 13,0000 SQ. FT.
AMERICASMART SHOWROOM

Mike Wolf, midwest regional sales manager for Safavieh, with the adorable Kathryn Sergenian and Niko Papadopoulos of PS Rugs, a division of Sergenian's, Madison, WI. (We like you too, Mike).

Sam Presnell of The Rug Gallery, Cincinnati, with David Lewis, Emphasis on Rugs, Evansville, IN

Host Arash Yaraghi, left, and design super-star Thom Filicia, right welcome rug industry stars Paige Ward of Shades of Light/Rugs Underfoot, Richmond, Va., and Randy Kremer, president of RugsDirect. Winchester, VA. Safavieh celebrated the grand opening of its new showroom and licensing partner Filicia was on hand for a meet-and-greet.

Safavieh principal Cyrus Yaraghi, second left, with Fred and Pat Nasseri of Gallery of Oriental Rugs, Wilmington, NC, and Nima Ahmadi, who stopped in to visit with Uncle Fred.

Left to right: William Thornton, Oriental Rug Care, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Richard Kirishian, Rugs & Home Decor, Spokane, WA, and Oscar Tatosian of Oscar Isberian Rugs, Evanston, IL.

From left: Jeff Flowers, Thomas Johnson and Ali Inal of the Designer Rug Warehouse in Atlanta.


This group of designers dropped by to visit with pal Thom Filicia. They were all speakers at AmericasMart market events. From left: Kathryn Ireland of California, Brad Ford of New York City, and Jill Merkle of Atlanta.
 

LOLOI NEVER NEEDS A REASON TO PARTY
THEY  JUST DO IT!

Genial host Amir Loloi, left, president of Loloi Rugs, with Sam Presnell of The Rug Gallery, Cincinnati.

The Rugs Direct Triumverate with Loloi regional manager John Thompson. Rugs Direct folks, from left: David Craig, Bill Martin and Randy Kremer. Internet specialist Rugs Direct is based in Winchester, VA.

Left to right: Lou Tarantino and Jeremy White of Carpet Source, Winter Park, FL, with Loloi's Ray Ehsani and Rene Castell.


Loloi sales manager Doug Robetor, left, with Cynthia Markham, Henry Scott, Melonie Plotkowski and Jeff Edwards of Carpets by Henry, Greensboro, NC


 Host Amir Loloi, right, greets the Agarwal family from Rug & Home of Gaffney, SC and Asheville, NC. From left: Rakesh, Dolly and Aanchal Agarwal. 

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NOURISON KICKS OFF
30TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR
WITH GALA SHOWROOM PARTY

John Murse, center, of Rugs as Art, Sarasota, FL, with hosts Alex Peykar, left, and Paul Peykar of Nourison

Igor Yakovenko, left, of Air Base Carpet Mart, based in New Castle, DE, with Nourison's Jack Nakeshian.

Dapper Dudes Paul Peykar, left, of Nourison and Shawn Nili of NW Rugs, Agoura Hills, CA.

Jeff Gonzalez, second left, Nourison's director of furniture stores sales, with Jon Mosher, left, Chris Watson and Kyle Pastrano of Watson & Co., Denver.

Did we say something funny? Having a good laugh are Mark Gonsenhauser, left, of Gonsenhauser Rugs & Carpet, Virginia Beach, VA, and Andrew Peykar of Nourison.

Nourison's Joe Ramsey, left, and Paul Peykar, right, with David Buffington, Marsha Buffington, Amy Rucker and Dan Rucker of Brentwood Interiors, Brentwood, TN. Marsha and Amy are sisters and David and Dan are business partners. They all grew up together. Isn't that nice?

Sue Ann Burke and Jon Womack of Rug Decor, Saint Louis, with Joyce Lowe, Nourison's national sales director of rugs. It's the first Winter market for Rug Decor since the specialty chain came under new ownership.


John Murse, center, of Rugs as Art, Sarasota FL, with Scott Hayim of Rug Decor, St. Louis and Brian Bates of Rug Decor of Port Charlotte, FL.
 

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ATLANTA MARKET WAS LOTS OF FUN :
 HAPPIER DAYS ARE ON THE WAY

At Karastan, from Left: Darren Braunstein, World Wide Wholesale, Edison, NJ; Bill Roach, Karastan regional vice president; Alan Braunstein of World Wide Wholesale, and Steve Roan, newly-named vice president of Karastan.

Reza Momeni, left, president of Momeni, with retailer Bijan Bonakchi, The Rug Store/Bijan Exclusive Oriental Rugs, San Antonio, TX,  and Momeni sales agent Ralph Long.

John and Lucy Murse of Rugs as Art, Sarasota, FL, with Steve Mazarakis, head of Linon's Rug Division.

Matthew Rohanian, left, president of Dynamic Rugs, with Tim Schantz, division sales manager.

Darshan Bhattarai, left, and uncle Roshan Bhattarai, principal of Paramount Rugs. Darshan recently joined the family company. Paramount makes fine rugs in Nepal and has headquarters in New York and distribution facilities in Atlanta.

Ben Evans, editor of Modern Carpets & Textiles, London, with Byron Hamilton, center, and Jeffrey Soleimani of Renaissance Carpet & Tapestries.

Rizzy cuts ribbon on newly expanded AmericasMart showroom. From left: company principal Shamsu Ansari, product manager Doug Ernewein, Rizzy principal Rizwan Ansari, regional manager Sheila Altenstadter, Mr. Koaungu, Rizzy India distribution specialist; Mark Ferullo, Rizzy vice president; J.C. Lehnen, Rizzy Creative Director for rugs, and
Chas Sydney, senior vice president of AmericasMart.
The showroom also won the Third Floor Visual Merchandising Award.

 Rob Leahy, center, of Fine Rugs of Charleston, Charleston, SC assists with ribbon cutting duties at Azad showroom. Akbar Azad, left, and Chas Sydney, senior vp of AmericasMart, right.


Industry consultants Pat Shaw and Stephanie Shaw share
a quiet moment.

Ebi Harounian, left, and Michael Harounian of Ebisons Harounian Rugs. Michael was just elected to a third term of The Oriental Rug Importers Association. We thank him for his service to the industry!


Mink merchants visit  Karastan. From left: Dorothy Mink, Patty Huang, David Mink, Sr.; David Mink, Jr., Richard Kennedy, and Henry Ward from Kenneth L. Mink & Sons, and Steve Roan of Karastan. It's a time of new beginnings. Mink recently took over all of Macy's rug departments. Steve Roan made his debut as Karastan Rugs' new vice president at the Atlanta Winter Rug Market.


See ya in Las Vegas, Baby!
Michael Heath, left, Ravi Tiwari, and Chandra Tiwari of Chandra Rugs, joine Lissa Wyman, editor and publisher of Rugnews.com to say Bye-Bye from Atlanta.

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