Store Owner Sees Rugs as `Art Under Foot'

Elyasi retiring to work on documentary and devote time to daughter             

by TINA HOYLE                                                                                           

When you visit downtown Pineville, you can spend hours browsing in stores full of antiques and interesting knick knacks. The store owners and employees welcome you warmly, which you don't get in all stores these days, and are willing to spend time helping you find the right item.

The Persian Rug House at 312 Main Street may be one of those places where you spend more time than you planned, so beware.

This isn't an ordinary rug store. The store, between Gardner's Mercantile and the Pineville Police Department, is full of interesting facets.

The owner, Reza Elyasi, has been in the same area (either the current space or the one across the street) for 22 years. He has been there so long, he says, that some of his customers used to ride on horseback through the fields to the store. Over the years Elyasi has expanded the store from 2,500 square feet to 7,000 square feet.

Elyasi has a passion for rugs like no one I know. He and his family and friends, who also work with him, will explain the history of the rugs, the differences between rugs and the many rug options.

He was worried I may not understand all the technical rug facts from my brief discussions with him, so I'll leave the technical details for him and his staff to discuss when you visit the store, and I'll concentrate on other interesting tidbits I learned.

Elyasi's passion goes further than just selling rugs. He has held classes in his store for designers, so he can be sure they understand the intricacies and details behind his rugs.

He is working on a documentary about how rugs are made from start (shearing the sheep) to the finished product, including the spinning and dying of the material.

Elyasi doesn't have a favorite rug. "To me rugs are art under foot and it depends on the mood you are in which is your favorite at that time," he says.

He tells a story from his childhood at about the age of 6, watching his sister weave her first rug. "Rugs show emotion," he says, "and each has images from the time of year. Most rugs take years to make, so you go through different emotions during the time."

He also has a passion for community endeavors, although he doesn't like to talk about himself. He's passionate about keeping Pineville's Main Street area feeling like a downtown and doesn't like the commercialization that seems to be creeping his way.

Elyasi is retiring this year to spend more time with his daughter, Medisa, and to work on his documentary, which should be finished next year. He feels his brother and friends of many years will continue to build relationships with customers as he has.

Stop by the store to wish Elyasi luck on his next ventures and ask him to tell you his story about the cat and the water dish. It is guaranteed to make you laugh.

The Charlotte Observer, Sunday, October 21,2007

 

 

Persian Rug House of Pineville

Spotlight on Business

by CHRYSTAL SAFARI, Freelance Writer

(PINEVILLE, NC)  The earliest memory for Reza Elyasi, founder of The Persian Rug House of Pineville, was the very vibrant and richly colored garden design Bakhtiari rug he watched come to life as his sister wove each row. ‘It was my first playground, each block for a different game,” Reza remembers. That rug, taking shape knot by knot, inch by inch, wove its way into his soul. Reza’s first rug sale was to his biology professor while a student at UNC Charlotte. From then on, his dream of continuing the family tradition developed into reality. It also cemented a lifelong friendship between Reza and his professor, Dr. Hechenbleikner, known as Dr. Hech, the father of UNCC and head of the biology department, who was like a second father to Reza.

Today, Reza, a third generation rug dealer, has seen many changes to the fabric and focus of Pineville in his 22 years as owner and developer of several store fronts of Pineville and of The Persian Rug House. Founded in 1986, The Persian Rug House of Pineville has grown from a single leased building to an exquisite customized showroom of over 6500 square feet of fine handmade new and antique Oriental rugs that hail from across the globe.

All three adjoining showrooms display rugs both on the walls, to exhibit designs and colors, and in stacks, arranged by size. While many Oriental rug stores are franchises or are distant virtual showrooms competing with the true neighborhood rug expert using website driven sales, the Persian Rug House of Pineville retains its hometown appeal, keeping in personal touch with the client.  There is only one.

Major changes have also taken place in the Oriental rug market. The 1990’s saw the highest peak of change, bringing in new and decorative reproductions of the ancient Persian designs. Today’s reproductions are of very high quality and handsome color; some rug experts cannot distinguish between real or reproduction from a distance.

Thinking back to the first rug that set the course for Reza, he shares, “I was one of the first to introduce the unique Bakhtiari garden design to the Southeastern interior design market.” The Bakhtiari design is, of course, close to Reza’s heart as it is also from the region of his birth, and is the legacy of his people. It is as durable as it is beautiful, and exclusive because it is one of the best kept secret rugs rarely seen in upscale homes because it is unpromoted by most designers. However, its style, attitude, and colors lend itself to compliment many rooms of the home.

Growing from a staff of one to a staff of seven has not changed the very friendly, inviting showroom atmosphere. As each new expert came on board, the showroom retained its easy going attitude. The Persian Rug House offers a full menu of on-site services from expert handwashed cleaning to rug repair, restoration, and appraisal. Also available are pads to protect the rug, as well as those walking on the rug.

Reza’s journey from playground to Persian Rug House of Pineville has seen both turbulent and triumphant times, from the Oriental rug embargo to the opportunity to retire and spend time with his young family, and it has been a trip of a lifetime.

The next stop on his journey is retirement, from the showroom, not from his passion, Persian rugs. Please join us as he says goodbye and in thanks to his loyal customers, offers the lowest prices in 22 years on the multi-million dollar inventory of new and antique handmade rugs of unbeatable quality at unmatched prices.

The Charlotte Observer, September 30, 2007

 

                                                                                               

                           

Persian Rug Dealer Sinks Roots

The Persian Rug House has been a fixture on Pineville's Main Street now for almost twenty-two years. During that time, it has never had a fire sale, an invento­ry-liquidation sale or a going­ out-of-business sale.

by DOUG SMITH

That was enough to get Doug Smith's attention in November 1993, when a news source called Smith to tell him the Persian Rug House was expanding. That still holds true today. Owner Reza Elyasi owns his 2,500­square-foot building and just signed a lease on 2,000 square feet next door.  He has lived in Charlotte since 1980 and has been in business for  himself since 1986.  As oxymoronic as it might sound, he's a Persian rug dealer with roots.  "I sold my first Persian rug to my biology professor when I was a student at UNC Charlotte," Elyasi shares.

At the Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont, "Our feeling has been somewhat negative about this category because it has not had the best of images," says President Jim Appleby. "The history that we've seen with oriental carpet dealers is they go into business to go out of business." The Persian Rug House is a BBB member with a clean record, Ap­pleby says. Elyasi realizes he's competing against perception, even though Charlotte has a half dozen oriental ­rug dealers who have survived without such tactics. Two competitors have been in business longer than he has, and one of those - Oglukian Oriental Rugs - was founded in 1932. Itinerant salespeople and liqui­dators are "a source of major concern for reputable dealers in the industry," says Vice President Greg Williams, whose wife Portia is the granddaughter of founder Le­van Oglukian. "We have to feel for customers who get into this situation thinking they are going to come out ahead," he says. "But, then, the only reason the itinerant auctions are so successful is customers continue to feed them." Elyasi encourages customers to bring their purchases back anytime and trade up. Instead of a sales pitch, first-timers get a crash course on how to buy a rug. "You have to educate your cus­tomers - that's the main thing," he says. "That's the key to selling your merchandise. There's a need for it, but they don't know how to buy it. You have to clear up all those clouds - all those doubts. Then they will make a decision faster and more confidently."

Elyasi, who studied at Central Piedmont Community College as well as UNCC, refuses to call himself an expert, even though his family was in the rug business in his native Esfahan, Iran's second­ largest city. "We have a saying," Elyasi says on how one becomes an expert. "You read one book and examine 10,000 rugs." The consumer's choices and price ranges are mind-boggling. Machine-made or handmade? New or antique? Silk or wool? You can easily pay $15,000-plus for an antique Persian rug, but you also can find a handsome 9-by-12 handmade oriental for an average price of $2,500 to $5,500. Elyasi doesn't sell machine-made rugs. Handmade rugs are the most expensive. They're woven on looms in a tedious, time ­consuming process of tying knots in intricate patterns. A 9-by-12 rug can take up to 1 1/2 years to com­plete, with three or four people working three hours a day. The Chinese speed up the pro­cess by using an abundance of cheap labor to mass-produce handmade rugs in shifts. Generally, experts say, those rugs are less valuable. True Persian rugs - not those mass-produced in China with Persian patterns - often are woven over a lifetime and passed from generation to generation. Elyasi says his sister in Iran spent seven years completing one. In the industry, they refer to Persian rugs as art you walk on. But I was reluctant to step foot on those in Elyasi's showroom, even though he encouraged it. Bright colors fade over the years, and the texture softens with use, adding to a rug's value, he says. In Iran, rug makers speed up the process by tossing them in the street and letting cars run over them.

I've already learned one lesson from Elyasi. A little education can be dangerous. I spotted a faded, patched-up old rug hanging on the wall. The pattern was interesting - it de­picted an ancient ruler and what appeared to be members of his court. But in that condition, the rug couldn't be worth much, I figured. "How about that one?" I asked Elyasi. "How much will you take for it?" "It's an antique - about 90 years old. You can have it for $12,500," he replied. Gulp! Looks like I'm going back to Pineville for a refresher course.  
 
The Charlotte Observer BUSINESS, Sunday, November 21, 1993

 

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