The Future Crop of Handknotted Oriental Rugs Is Afoot

The material growing on the special breed of sheep below is the special ingredient for future creation of fine handknotted oriental rugs. It's a natural, organic, green, renewable resource in production.
 

 Over several months, the wool covering these sheep grows into magnificent fleeces which, upon shearing, will be acquired by the world's best rug-making concerns. 

Then, following a time-perfected process -- which takes considerably longer than the production of the raw material -- the wool is spun, dyed and used to build a rug knot-by-knot; and something wonderful results -- the following being but one example of an incredibly diverse set of superb examples available to satisfy any discerning taste.

And, needless to say, there is ALWAYS a bumper crop of beautiful handmade rugs available for your consideration and consumption at Brandon Oriental Rugs. Tell us what's cooking with your design project, and we'll suggest appropriate ingredients to help you serve it up right. 

Disaster Relief (Hurricane Sandy) -- Oriental Rug Appraisal, Cleaning, Restoration, Fair Replacement

　

Following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy, the largest Atlantic storm ever to strike the Mid-Atlantic states, clean-up will likely be a lengthy and tedious ordeal for the millions impacted by nature's overwhelming power.

　

For those who own fine hand-knotted Oriental rugs, the challenges of being made whole again can be significantly more involved than for other furnishings or household possessions. Delay in remediation of damage can lead to total loss of a rug. The magnitude of that loss can be difficult to determine without expert evaluation of rug type, replacement value, and the costs and chances of success if restoration is attempted.

　

Fine rugs that have been damaged by storm related hazards: water only, or -- more commonly -- water mixed with salt, household chemicals and dissolved building materials from compromised structures need prompt evaluation (triage in effect) to determine what can or should be done to save the rug, or assure fair compensation for those rugs that cannot be salvaged.

　

In this instance, as in prior disasters (Hurricanes Floyd and Irene among others), Brandon Oriental Rugs is prepared to offer our services to help rug owners (and their insurers) to quickly assess the damages that have actually occured; and choose the best course to take for restoration.

　

We are prepared to travel to any part of Southeast Pennsylvania, and Central and Southern New Jersey, to assist with our services those who have suffered damage to their rugs. For those who lack current documentation, we can provide appraisals of your rugs and their current replacement value. We can help assess the nature and extent of damages your rugs have suffered in the storm; the impact those damages have made to value; and the chances for restoring your rugs by cleaning or repair. We can provide for removal of damaged rugs for the purpose of cleaning and repair by experts competent to perform the necessary work.

　

Over the course of the next few weeks, we hope to be able to consolidate multiple appointments in affected areas to expedite steps for amelioration of the losses suffered. If our service can help you get back to normal by helping you save the value you have invested in your fine handmade rugs, please call us (215-794-2300) to discuss our services and fees; and to make arrangements for us to evaluate your rugs.

　

Having begun already to help people who have suffered damage to their rugs wrought by this devastating hurricane, we can see the profound impact this event will have on many people and communities for some time to come. At this time, when a power greater than us has brought us harm, our prayers are with all that The Power greater than us all will quickly ease the suffering and insofar as possible restore the losses.

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RUG SALE ( TALE OF THE TAG ): What's Attached There Reveals A Company's Retail Philosophy AND Beliefs Concerning Customer Motivations and Sophistication

This is the layout of all the tags that are attached to all the rugs at Brandon's store.
Rugs are given actual designations (TYPE) based on origin and tradition,
not some made-up marketing or brand name (e.g. - "Oriental Luxor Epoch 2001").
SIZE is an actual measurement, not a nominal, standard-size category.
QUALITY states the materials and contract grade so that you can actually
comparison shop styles and qualities that appeal to you.
ORIGIN is country where the rug was actually made. This matters.
ACTUAL PRICE means just that. It isn't a manufactured price that we can spend
the afternoon sipping tea while we negotiate over it. It isn't a big number that gets turned
into a small number for any of the myriad reasons for which "discounts" are supposedly  offered.
It includes EVERYTHING: the rug, the pad you need for the rug and your floors,
the applicable sales tax and delivery with installation (on room size rugs.) 

With few exceptions -- even among rug stores that claim to be "direct importers" -- the rugs you see when you shop all originated in the inventories of eighty or so importers which produce most of the handmade rugs and associated textiles in the world. Some are names that can be recognized from their branding efforts -- which have yielded mixed results. Nourison, Samad, Safavieh, and Kalaty via massive, long-term advertising campaigns and marketing systems have tried to penetrate formerly under-served markets. (There's a joke in the rug industry that anyone can become an oriental rug dealer who has ten square feet of floor space and a spare $20,000 to "invest" in purchasing "samples". Consequently, if your local convenience store or supermarket doesn't have a rug kiosk yet, it's probably just a matter of time.)  For the most part, however, the rug importers choose to remain unknown to the general public so as to remain dedicated resources for select dealers competent to properly educate and serve interested buyers.

As a result of a business model where all of the rug dealers (nationally and worldwide) are, in effect, "sharing" the inventories of the same importers (producers), it sometimes happens that a price tag from a store that previously held a rug accidentally remains as an artifact on that rug when it gets to the next store. We, at Brandon Oriental Rugs, possess of some of these artifacts and would like to use them here to demonstrate how fine rugs are being represented (or misrepresented) to possible buyers; and how that suggests what some dealers think about the real aspirations and motivations of their customers.

Please appreciate that rug dealers are not "non-profit" enterprises. Although the overhead costs involved in generating a sale often yield slim profits, the bottom-line price of any rug -- the price a customer actually pays to make a purchase -- is structured to yield a profit sufficient to cover the costs of the sale plus a little extra to enable sustainability and growth of the company. As Brandon Oriental Rugs discussed in a prior blog post ( http://brandonrugs.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-is-sale-really-measured.html ) companies use retail formulae which generate "tag prices" for items based on their costs. As shown there, some dealers' prices are REAL prices (what you're really going to pay) while some are "Silly Putty" prices: meant to be seen in an initial-state only for the sake of allowing a customer to be wowed by numerous price manipulations that bring forth (abracadabra style) an "AMAZINGLY LOW SALE PRICE". Granted, most everyone enjoys a good magic show, but few mature observers would deny that the illusions are accomplished with tricks. That being said, in a world that demands "immediate everything", why is the tricky wait-till-ya-see-this stuff tolerated?

Anyway, let's look at some tags. Here's Example #1:



This is an 8x10 Pak-Persian rug. Average sale prices nationwide are between $3,400 and $4,400 depending on importer source and style of rug. With Bloomie's "65+10+5%OFF"deal, you'd pay $4,750 plus tax for this rug during one of their BIG sales promos. The BIG SALE is a BIG misrepresentation, and costs the buyer more than they should have to pay. 


  


This is a 9x12 Pak-Peshawar rug. Average prices are much more disparate because of widely differing qualities within this general type. On average a 9x12 will cost between $3,300 and $4,900 depending on knot density, importer source, and quality of finish on the rug.  With Bloomie's "65+10+5%OFF"deal, you'd pay $5,375 plus tax for this rug during one of their BIG sales promos. The BIG SALE is a BIG misrepresentation. Caveat emptor.

 I can speak from experience, and say that sometime during the late 1970's large department stores fell victim to the guerrilla marketing of upstart "DISCOUNT" marketers. Take your pick of products: from mattresses to shoes to oriental rugs, every department was besieged by the "unbeatable low price" challenge from discounters . The first wave was "50% OFF DEPARTMENT STORE PRICES". Who could resist?

So, as their sales volume plummeted, department stores fought back with the same discount techniques, but "on steroids". (My dad once told me: "As Americans we believe that if a little of something is good, more must be better.") If people wanted discounts, they'd get absolutely incredible discounts ("give the customer what they want".) "60% OFF"; "55-70% OFF"; "65%+10%+5% OFF"; and the killer app "75-80% OFF" have been spun off of prior "Never Before; Never Again" offers. 

Who could resist? Who would question such offers to see if they yield REAL savings? But as the evidence above demonstrates, "BIG SALE" offers are manufactured from pricing formulae that don't truly deliver on customers' expectations  to get the "Best Ever Deal" on their purchases.

Here's example #2:




This is from the (at least for now) out-of-business PTK store on Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr, PA. It's for an 8x10 tapestry weave, Chinese-made, French Aubusson style flatweave rug. With PTK's most-of-the-time 65%OFF "deal" the price would be $1,700 plus tax, which IS within the average price range for rugs of this type.
But why create the phony high price to sell at the REAL price? Everyone knows "the game". Nobody really believes "the game" anymore. Maybe that's why this particular store is gone.

 

And Example #3 (a mixed up tag):

We don't know who created the rug tag above, but it's a curiosity. Of note is the fact that the dealer IS selling at an "actual price" -- which was an average price for the rug type until this year.  The hand-written side shows he's using a formula to develop his tag price ($4,826?). Rather than round down to $4,825 for retailing, he chose to round up (on the printed side) to $4,899. Another question mark comes from the writing on the "Quality" line on the face of the tag. As you see it says "Silk Flower 100%Wool". Something's amiss there. If it's 100% Wool, there's no silk anything about it. If there's actually silk something in it, it can't be 100% wool. (I'd be doing fiber analysis on that rug based on the questions raised by the tag.)

Here's Example #4 (what we call a "Dodger Tag"):



We don't know the store responsible for this tag, but the seller apparently doesn't want to commit to telling you what kind of rug you are buying. There are different reasons for the uncertainty. Maybe he doesn't know what kind of rug it actually is, and so gives it a "sounds good", catchall, "Persian Weave" designation. Maybe he doesn't want you to know too much about the rug to prevent you from any effort at comparison shopping. ("Persian Weave" is such a broad class that it actually says little about what you're looking at.) The "dodge" is compounded on the "design" line where the designation is given as "Persian". So we don't know if this is a coarse Persian Heriz  or a fine Persian Tabriz reproduction made in India, and so don't know if the price on the opposite side is good, average, or bad.

We do know the seller is using a set formula to price his rugs. $2,560 is an odd starting price which indicates it was generated as some multiple of a lower wholesale price. The starting price is then discounted 30% to an equally odd selling price of $1,792. ("Not a penny more or less.")

Lastly, Example #4 : "Hide The Price So You Can Make Whatever Deal You Want" Trick-Tag

This tag was attached to a rug we cleaned for a customer a couple of years back. They had just moved into the area when their dog added a little extra color to their rug which they had purchased in the mid-1990's. (We've blurred the name of the company in Texas that used this tag -- which is no more but has the same name as a large importer with multiple distribution centers in the South.) The gimmick here is that the tag shows NO obvious selling price, but actually has two prices encoded. The number above the bar-code looks meaningless, but contains the target selling price for this rug. It is $4,200. To give the floor salesperson wiggle room, the wholesale cost of this particular rug is also encoded. It is the number following the meaningless diversion (100) after "Made In India", i.e. $1,826. So, there's $2,374 of wiggle room, which is a lot for a company comfortable with wiggling. In this case, we found out that our customer with the artistic dog did not get a lot of wiggle extended to them. They paid $4,500 for their rug, which was the dealer's target price PLUS the cost of a pad PLUS the cost of delivery. They had a nice rug -- our cleaners were able to remove the dog graffiti -- and obviously they were satisfied with the deal from the Texas rug-dealer all those years ago or they would not have made the purchase. Nonetheless, had they been able to see through this particular trick, they could have held out for a better deal. There are other things deliberately hidden in plain sight with a tag of this type. Again, this dealer does not want to educate buyers about what they are buying. This $4,200 rug is an "Indian Persian" rug. One could as easily label it a "Far Middle East" Rug, and provide as little useful information.

So that concludes our demonstration of rug tag antics. In summary:

1) On the supposition that the gullibility of prospective customers is limitless, stores have adopted pricing strategies that defy credulity -- especially if scrutiny beyond immediate impulse is exerted. Still the prospects can't seem to get enough of the frenzy, and the farce is perpetuated

2) Lost in the diversion of the "BIG SALE" is any attention to educating the buyer about their purchase. People seem to be shopping not for products and benefits, but for prices. (We get innumerably more questions like "What do these things cost?" than we do questions like "What kind of rug is this?" or "Can you show me why one rug costs more than another?" or "What makes one rug better than another?")

3) Because real information is difficult to gather, comparison shopping devolves from the high ground of relative cost-benefit analysis (one rug compared with another; one dealer's price for a particular rug type compared to another's for the same type) to an irrational,  greed-motivated, stimulus-response-conditioned, reflex-logic (reinforced by self-hypnosis) that 85% OFF is obviously better than 60% OFF. The dumbing down of educated consumerism is compounded by the branding craze. (I can explain the differences between a Tabriz rug and a Bidjar rug, for example, and how those differences might translate into price differences. I have no idea how a Martha Stewart Collection rug differs from a Vicente Wolf or Victoria Hagan Collection Rug. Is there any difference other than the different audiences targeted with the use of these and other famous names? In truth, it would make a whole lot more sense to have rug collections devised by the curators of rugs at the world's great museums or by the rug departments of the world's great auction houses than by some fashion designer, or self-promoting celebrity. Whatever Martha and the rest might know about many things, I'd wager that the guys tossing rugs around the rug bazaars of Iran and the other rug making countries know immensely more about what matters when it comes to the subject of handmade rugs.)

4) There are many different levels of interest and appreciation when it comes to satisfying a rug need. As with any pursuit, any effort expended in study will yield worthwhile rewards in improved results. We've seen and helped to participate in expanding many personal rug collections. Those which grow based upon a quality commitment are much more satisfying than those which grow because it's "President's Day Sale" time again.  

New Living Room Rug for New Living Room Furniture in New Home (Blue Bell, Pennsylvania) Challenge Met by Brandon Oriental Rugs (Furlong, PA)

Although most designers would recommend selecting an area rug prior to making other choices in the development of new design plans for a room, experience demonstrates that most often the rug becomes a finishing touch -- the last piece in the puzzle -- a decision delayed until other choices (furniture, fabrics, paint, window treatments, accessories) have been made.

While, once upon a time, this posed no difficulty, this order of events now does pose more of a challenge to all concerned because of dwindling inventories in REAL handmade rugs (which excludes tufted rugs, machine made rugs, anything with synthetic fibers or rubber backing, and anything using non-traditional construction techniques which compromise durability or the capability of future cleaning). In the not so distant past, the "last piece of the puzzle" could have been any of many different rug possibilities, each suitable as a good fit. Nowadays the number of perfect fits is significantly less numerous.

Ideally, fabrics are selected after the rug.

But, as in this case, a group of pre-selected
fabrics decides the rug choice.

The "opinion" of the fabrics must be respected
as a deciding "vote" when they are at the
vanguard of the design process.

Still the inclination we see by some designers (in various trade and shelter magazines, and blogs) to force fit a not-quite-perfect rug into the overall plan needs to be resisted. We continue to welcome the challenge of locating the piece

that is the right fit for what has already been decided upon, or is already in place. While that now might mean one of only two or three great choices -- whereas it once meant one of maybe ten or more equally good selections -- the task is still worth the effort. To paraphrase an expression (for which we forget the correct attribution): "The difficult we do right away; the impossible takes a little longer."

With that as introduction, we had the privilege of recently helping a new homeowner find a "last piece of the puzzle" rug to complement her new furnishings in her newly painted living room in her new home. We were given a color board of fabrics and paint about six weeks prior to installation. In that time we located twelve different hand-knotted rugs which addressed the personal desires of the customer for her room within the constraints dictated by the established choices. We should note here that in advance of seeing any of the rugs in the room, the consensus preference was for a rug that powerfully brought forth the dark burgundy and brown accents common to the fabrics. As often happens, preconceived preferences were not the optimal solution for room -- which is why any "must buy it before you try it" rug offer should be ignored -- and all of the burgundy or darkly colored rug selections upset the integrity of the room which the customer had carefully established by her earlier decisions.

Our customer's rug choice after a lengthy presentation and comparison of all the choices she had pre-selected for consideration is one that she had considered early in the process and which maintains an overall balance in her room.

The light background with burgundy and camel accents does not overpower the rest of the furnishings and preserves the sense of volume in the room by not imposing an overpowering (dark) background on the floor. The other furnishing elements are not camouflaged or diminished by the rug, and the room has the calm, integrated feel of a well composed painting.

As we constantly state, good taste cannot be disputed, and we commend our customer for her tasteful selections throughout her new home; one element of which -- the living room rug -- we had the privilege to help her resolve.

The View From My Desk: The World Around In One Room

(what I can see from my desk as I enjoy the stewardship by God's grace of my modest small business dedicated to the art of fine handmade rugs)

There are the things seen with the eyes, physical realities: assorted shapes, diverse patterns -- some repeated as themes over a variety of individual rug pieces; multitudes of colors and color combinations blended in harmonious ways that give a vitality to the patterns delineated by their changes and juxtaposition.

And these visual impressions expand beyond mere physical sensation to metaphysical considerations: the things seen with the mind's eye. I see the complexity of structure and form that suggest (undeniably) an enduring purpose, things built to last; like any work of art: an artifact of creation that extends in time beyond the creative act as a testament of the spirit that created. The amazing intricacy, the lively interplay of colors and patterns are beacons radiating here and now the vitality (and apparent delight in life) which in reality are temporally and spatially distant as regards their use in the effort of assembling them into these expressions of beauty. An artisan, or group of artisans, far removed from here in some distant land and different culture, working for a long time in some time past, brought forth with the labor invested in each unique rug a testimonial, a monument, a memorial perhaps to a great love, or some deep appreciation, or an enviable ecstasy that had the inner power to shape spiritual motives into physical reality.
I know the simplicity of the people who have made these finely crafted rugs that I see with my eyes from my desk. Their hard lives and simple ways don't hold much attraction as a "lifestyle choice" for us when compared with our easier "sophisticated" Western lifestyles; but the physical artifacts of their spiritual life-force -- full of color; intricately interwoven in beautifully patterned themes -- deserve respect, appreciation, and some effort at integration into our speed-of-light material culture which is less and less connected with artisanship and the ability therein to personally transform our spiritual urges into enduring symbols of what truly motivates us.

Customer Found The Rug She Wanted At Brandon After Looking Elsewhere For Months

Our customer had been working with her designer on redecorating her living room for several months. From the outset she had decided she wanted an area rug to anchor the room, and unify all of the furnishings and colors she was selecting.
She reported to us that after many months of searching in many stores she had found nothing to her liking (her exact words were to the effect that "there's a lot of junk out there.")
The room was nearing completion - her new furniture had been installed - and she was still without a rug when, via our website, she found Brandon Oriental Rugs in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and decided to see if our Rug-Search(TM) service could accomplish what she had been unable to do herself.

It so happened that on her first visit to our store, we had in inventory the rug that was "exactly" what she had been hoping to find. (Still, before making her final decision, we brought numerous other choices for her consideration, any of which could have worked in the room but which, in the end, demonstrated the appropriateness and success of her original choice.)
We also learned from her in the process that the REAL hand-knotted rug she selected from Brandon Oriental Rugs was more reasonably priced than many of the choices that had been suggested to her previously. She is also delighted with the fact that she has a REAL rug (not some machine-made or "tufted" imitation) giving her the quality and value that is important to her - as evidenced in all of her tasteful decorating decisions.

ABOUT BRANDON ORIENTAL RUGS

   Though we are proud of the visible demonstration that our store makes of the magnificence and enduring qualities of REAL Handmade Rugs -- and of our commitment to offering the same to our customers -- Brandon Oriental Rugs is NOT just a store, we are a service.

   Those shopping for rugs who take advantage of the unique benefits our Rug-Search(TM) service offers will save time, effort, and cost in their acquisition of fine handmade area rugs.

   Brandon also offers complimentary design assistance related to rug selection and use with professional evaluation of the wants and needs of our customers in consultation with them and/or their interior designers or architects.

   Other complimentary services (including free local delivery and in-home trial of multiple rugs) are offered to make rug-search and selection an enjoyable process.

   Additional services associated with fine handmade rugs (including professional rug cleaning, rug restorations and repairs, and rug appraisals for purposes of estate protection, insurance, and loss evaluation) are also provided by Brandon Oriental Rugs.

   We take pride in being "The Home of REAL Rugs"(TM) because, regardless of where you choose to make use of them, "REAL Rugs Bring Pride to Every Room"(TM).

   Our real commitment to keeping things real means that we only offer:

Real Handmade Rugs (No tufted or machine-made imitations; and no rugs made with synthetic, plastic, man-made fibers, or rubberized backings);

Real Selections (customers are NOT limited to choices from current store inventory. Every rug available to us we can make available to you. Once you have conveyed your desires to us, we can bring as many solutions as we know exist to appropriately resolve your wants and needs. We bring real solutions in the actual sizes you need for immediate on-site evaluation in your rooms. We do NOT offer or countenance sample "strike-offs", or sample sizes because of their uncertainties of realization in time or fact.)

Real Savings Based on Real Prices (Brandon's pricing is based on QUALITY not discounting, or limited time offers, or manufactured events. You never have to wait for a "SALE" to be certain of the best possible value, and you can readily comparison shop (comparing quality with quality) to appreciate the values we offer. You can be certain that you will "Spend less for the quality you want to acquire, or get better quality for what you want to spend"(TM) .) (The only thing possibly "unreal" about our prices is the wonder that they are not much higher considering the skill, time, and quality materials invested in producing each and every hand-knotted rug.)

   Whether you are an expert or a novice in the use of REAL, hand-knotted rugs, Brandon Oriental Rugs works to advance your appreciation and experience of all that is of significance to you in your special rug search. Our resources are available to you to help you realize your goals, and to assure you the enduring pride and satisfaction experienced in achievement.