Slow Year in Rug Business

We managed to survive, but it was a very slow 2009. Buyers did not want to spend money buying rugs and if they did, they were looking for cheaper rugs. Those who needed to clean or repair their rugs were looking for deals and discount and in many cases postponed to have their rugs cleaned and repaired.

Since I am a positive thinking person by birth, I am sure 2010 will be a better year. If not, I will make it better by re-evaluating our business strategies and adjusting them. The next few days will be slow, but this will give me a chance to review my 2009 to take lessons from the experiences I gained. This will give me a good arsenal to fight and tackle the potential problems I will face in 2010.

Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
310-770-9085

Safavid Carpets: A Lecture by Dr. Jon Thompson

Yesterday, Sunday December 6, 2009, Dr. Jon Thompson of London delivered an excellent lecture in our rug gallery on 1655 South La Cienega Blvd. in Los Angeles on Safavid Carpets. It was well attended and well received.

Here I am posting few pictures for the event.

Khosrow Sobhe
Certified Rug Specialist
www.ArdabilCarpet.com
310-770-9085

Safavid Carpets by Dr. Jon Thompson

We are getting ready for tomorrow's lecture on Safavid Carpets by Dr. Jon Thompson who is coming to Los Angeles to deliver two lectures. The first one is for today, Saturday Dec. 5th at 2:00 pm at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LACMA on the Ardabil Carpets. The second lecture will be delivered in our rug gallery on Safavid carpets on 1655 South La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90035. This free lecture will also begin at 2:00 pm on Sunday Dec. 6, 2009.

Today, I will go to LACMA to see Jon Thompson and listen to his speech. If my time permits, I would also like to pay another visit to Ardabil and Coronation carpets on display.

Khosrow Sobhe
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.ArdabilCarpet.com
310-770-9085

How to Properly Vacuum Your Rugs?

This is a new video we have prepared to protect your rugs by vacuuming them properly.

Khosrow Sobhe
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
310-770-9085

Rug Tent Sale Los Angeles, 2nd Day

Contrary to the first day, we had a very busy second day yesterday which was Saturday. Several customers stopped by and looked at the rugs and kilims in our tent and in our store. Some of them bought some rugs or kilims. Today, Sunday is the third and last day of our tent sale. Are we going to have a sales miracle we have been waiting for a long time? We have to wait for a few hours and see!!

Khosrow Sobhe
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugTentSale.com
310-770-9085

Safavid Carpets: Themes, Styles, and Patterns

Safavid Carpets: An Analysis of Themes, Styles and Patterns
Dr. Khosrow Sobhe invites you to a lecture by: Dr. Jon Thompson
Visiting leading rug scholar from London
Dr. Thompson has recently retired as May Beattie Fellow in Carpet Studies at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology and the Khalili Research Center, at the University of Oxford. He continues to teach courses at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, and at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Dr. Thompson is in Los Angeles to deliver a lecture on the Ardabil Carpet on Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 2:00 pm at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LACMA Sunday, December 6, 2009 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm

at Rug Idea
1655 South La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
(Half a mile south of Pico Blvd. at Airdrome St. Free parking available)

This is a free program sponsored by RugIdea.com. Seating capacity is limited.
Please make reservation by calling 310-860-0460

Rug Tent Sale in Los Angeles First Day

It was Black Friday today and first day of our 3-day Rug Tent Sale. We put up our tent in our parking lot. Two ignorant people had parked their cars in our parking and this delayed setting up our tent for 45 minutes.

It was slow business wise but some customers who visited us said they would comeback tomorrow Saturday or Sunday.

Khosrow Sobhe
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugTentSale.com
310-770-9085

Rug tent Sale in Los Angeles

Rug Tent Sale

Starting Black Friday
November 27, 28, & 29, 2009
10:00 am to 6:00 pm

Up to 50% (HALF) off all rugs in store

All types of Persian, Oriental & Area Rugs
(Handmade and machine made rugs)

Add that extra touch in decorating your home or office
None of our rugs are purchased or consigned from other dealers. Instead, we either produce or import them directly from the source. No middleman means:

HUGE SAVINGS FOR YOU!

We also specialize in: Professional rug cleaning, pet stain removal, water damage restoration, spot dyeing, rug repair and rug appraisal. Free local pick up & delivery. We offer professional wall-wall carpet cleaning.

Come in and visit Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay) Certified Rug Specialist (CRS) and ask him all your rug questions directly. Get a free rug appraisal. This is a limited one-time offer only. We also buy rugs or help you sell your rugs.

SOBCO
International Ltd.
Direct Importer & Award Winning Producer of Persian Rugs
1655 S. La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90035
Tel. 310-770-9085 & 310-860-0460
(Half a mile south of Pico Blvd. on Airdrome Street)
www.rugidea.com
www.RugTentSale.com

My Son Kash Repairs a Rug in His Liesure

My younger son Kash (Khashaiar) is 17 years old is here at work today with me on this beautiful sunny Sunday in Los Angeles. He wanted me to give him a job. I asked him to secure the lose fringes of a Turkoman rug which he nicely did. Kash is a senior at Beverly Hills High School. He has taken several AP classes this year. He has applied to several four-year university to study Information Systems. He is a dedicated young man with big dreams. He has an active web site www.KashLife.com with many followers and subscribers.

Khosrow Sobhe
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.rugidea.com
310-770-9085

Ardabil and Coronation carpets in Los Angeles

It was a beautiful sunny day today in Los Angeles. In the morning, I went to a rug program offered by the Textile Museum Associates of Southern California, TMASC. Dennis Marquand talked about Kyrgyz rugs. I liked the lecture and the show and tell part. After that, I rushed to Tribal Arts Show in Santa Monica City. It was an interesting show. I went to work at 1:00 pm and stayed there until 4:00 pm. After work, I went to Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LACMA to see the Ardabil and Coronation carpets. WOW. Two beautiful and magnificent rugs were on display. There were not that many visitors in the hall. I had expected to see more visitors. Maybe since it was Saturday afternoon people were busy with work or shopping. Or maybe people do not care!!

After the LACMA visit I went to Radio Iran, KIRN 670 AM for a talk show to have a program on the Ardabil & Coronation carpets. The program was from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. I am now at home writing this post.

Khosrow Sobhe
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.rugidea.com
310-770-9085

Los Angeles and the Ardabil Carpet

My new website www.ArdabilCarpet.com is now up and running. The famous Ardabil and Coronation carpets will be on display in Los Angeles County Museum of Art this coming Sat. Nov. 14, 2009.

You may visit this new website for more details on the rugs and on many events which will take place.

Khosrow Sobhe
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.rugidea.com
310-770-9085

Field Trip From Westland School in Los Angeles to Our Rug Gallery

Yesterday was a beautiful and wonderful day. We had a field trip and visit to our rug gallery by 23 bright, polite and smart students from Westland School which is located on Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles. Two teachers and six parents also accompanied these students. We showed them two short videos on how Persian rugs and kilims are made followed by a powerpoint containing many pictures from the Pazyryk carpet, the oldest rug ever, the biggest rug in the world, and rug production process. We started at 10:00 am and finished by 12:00 pm.

Students asked many questions such as the following:

- Wool of how many sheep do you use to make a rug?
- How much do you pay to your weavers to make a rug?
- How much water do you use to wash a rug and where does this water come from?
- Who are the designers of Persian rugs?
- Do you use the wool of live sheep or you can use the wool of dead sheep?

I enjoyed having them in our store. I had provided a package for each student containing two small books (The Mystic of Oriental Rugs, and Carpet Cleaning Tips for Dummies), and few other handouts and rug literature.

Khosrow Sobhe
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.rugidea.com
310-770-9085

Persian Varamin Rugs

Some times our customers asked for asymmetrical designs and a little out of balance designed rugs. We created such design and produced several pieces of these rugs in Varamin, a city with fine rug weaving tradition in south east Tehran.

Traditionally, there was a contrast between the color of border and the background in Persian carpets. For example if the color of background was red, the color of border was dark blue or visa versa. Recently, there has been a shift in demand in this regard. Therefore we produced some rugs in Varamin with Ivory background and borders. Below, you can see a picture of a rug with this type of color palette and out of balance design.

The size of this rug is 4' x 6'. The wool is hand spun and the dye is natural. The retail price of this rug is $1,950.

Khosrow Sobhe
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.rugidea.com
310-770-9085

Slow Rug Market in Los Angeles & Iranian American Parents Association IAPA

It was relatively a quiet day yesterday. Although it was Saturday, I was at work from 12:00 to 5:00 pm. I went home and took my younger son Kash (Khashaiar) to dinner. My wife was going to an Azari concert with few other Azari speaking Iranian friends. My older son Ashkan was busy with his plans. Kash and I went to "Hamburger Haven" on Robertson and Sunset Blvd. After dinner, I suggested to go to a movie and Kash accepted. We went to "Couples Retreat". It was funny.

This morning, Sunday, I woke Kash up and offered him to go to a nearby Farmers' Market for breakfast. He accepted and we walked there and had breakfast together. It was a wonderful evening yesterday and a beautiful early morning together with Kash. He is a senior and 12th grader at Beverly Hills High School. Both my sons kash and Ashkan help me at my work when they have free time. This is how I became interested in rugs when I helped my father in his rug store.

It is 1:00 pm Sunday now and I am at work. I will be here until 2:00 pm and after that I will go to a meeting in Beverly Hilton Hotel held by Iranian American Parents Association, IAPA. This sold out event is called "One Life to Live". A 5 Step Certificated Program to bring Awareness & Understanding to Our Teenagers (ages 15 - 18) to Prevent:

Tragedies, Addiction, Feeling of Loneliness, Family Alienation,
Anger, Frustration, Lack of Direction

With One-of-a-Kind & Exciting Field Trips to:
LA County Jail & Police station
IN COLLABORATION WITH:
Sheriff Lee Baca
RADIO IRAN 670AM KIRN
Los Angeles Iranian-American Sheriff Advisory Council
Beverly Hills Police Department

I am on the board of IAPA. What does this have to do with me as a rug specialist? Well; Since my older son Ashkan started his elementary school 16 years ago, I joined his school's PTA and became it's president. This is how I got involved in this type of activity. We lived in Tehran then. After a few years, I became a member and also the president of my second son's PTA. I got more involved and became the vice president of the Central Council of Parents Teachers Associations in District 3 in Tehran supervising and overseeing more than 200 of these non-profit organizations. PTA has a history of over 80 years in Iran. In our PTA in Tehran in my sons' schools, we had four very active committees: Health, Education, Fund Raising, and Public Relations.

As an educator, parent and a citizen of the world, I think if we invest in our youth as our future leaders, we will have a better tomorrow with less violence and more love and understanding.

Here, I am posting three pictures. The first one on the top shows some of the IAPA board members. The second photo shows the IAPA board members in today's program at Beverly Hilton Hotel. Sheriff Lee Baca in standing in the middle. The third picture shows my two sons Kash and Ashkan in my rug gallery on La Cienega Blvd. You can click on each photo to enlarge.


Khosrow Sobhe
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.rugidea.com
310-770-9085

Rug Calendar

Paul Shaper Productions is a company based in Los Angeles. They are in rug promotions and have a clean and extensive rug dealers' list for the whole country. I have worked with this company on many occasions to promote sales or exhibitions and it has paid off.

Paul is in the final stages of a 2010 rug calendar printing process and contacted me this morning. I am posting a couple of pictures from his beautiful calendar along with his web site information. Anybody who maybe interested in his extensive line of products to promote his/her rug business should contact Paul Shaper.

Khosrow Sobhe
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.rugidea.com
310-770-9085

No Sales Tax No Rugs

A husband and wife came into our rug store and looked for an rug few minutes ago. After looking at many rugs, they finally found the piece they both liked. They said they did not want to spend that much on a rug. I gave them a good price and accepted their offer for an 8 x 10 rug if they paid me cash. They did not have cash so they went to a nearby shopping center and got cash from an ATM Machine and came back. We packed the rug and they wanted to pay. But one problem came up. They did not want to pay sales tax which is 9.75% in Los Angeles where we are. I did not give them the rug. Sales Tax goes to the State and paying cash, check or credit card does not make a difference. They left without the rug and I do not regret that.

Some rug customers are spoiled and expect too much. Where ever they go, not only they pay sales tax, in some instances they pay tip as well. When it comes to rug, they bargain, they do not pay tip, and after all, they (some of them) do not want to pay tax. This is not going to happen here!!

Khosrow Sobhe
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.rugidea.com
310-770-9085