Here’s just a sampling of the new Afghan rugs that have just arrived in Farmville. Beautiful, colorful and elegant!
Archive for the ‘Oriental Rugs’ Category
New Shipment of Afghan Rugs
Monday, April 1st, 2013New Rug Arrivals
Thursday, February 28th, 2013Our Rug Department just received a 40 ft. container direct from India. We’ve added hundreds of new rugs to our inventory from the best classically designed pieces to all the latest looks in transitional and modern rugs.
Rug Buying Trip, Part 2: Images of India
Tuesday, February 5th, 2013With a tight buying schedule, any sightseeing is done from the back seat of a speeding car as we travel form one village to the next. Visiting the rug making region of India is like stepping back into time. People live very much like they did centuries ago. In the villages, fast food for our buying team consists of fruit and vegetable from makeshift stands along the roadside.
December is a popular month for weddings in India. As we drove back to the hotel in the evenings, we were able to catch glimpses of the wedding revelry–bright lights, fireworks, music and dancing.
India is a country of great contrasts. One day while driving down a garbage strewn street, we came alongside a villager proudly riding an elephant adorned with intricate painted designs and bright silks. Just when we reached the point where we couldn’t stand to see anymore poverty and filth, something truly beautiful would come along.
Preview of Rugs from Latest India Buying Trip & Rug Making 101
Tuesday, January 15th, 2013Green Front’s Ashley Cooper recently traveled all over India on the latest rug buying trip to select an extraordinary assortment of oriental rugs and accent carpets from 30 different vendors. As always, Green Front negotiated great deals on the merchandise to bring you spectacular hand-knotted rugs at truly affordable prices. Thousands of rugs were ordered, and here is just a sampling of what will be arriving:
The Art of Rug Making
As Ashley visited each vendor, she was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the rug making process. With approximately 32-34 steps from start to finish, the amount of pain-staking labor that goes into producing a hand-knotted rug is unfathomable. Typically these tasks are delegated to four or five people over five months (on average) for a basic 9 x 12 oriental rug, equating to almost 2 years worth of labor!
Preparing the Materials
Before the weaving can even begin, many hours of preparation are involved in designing the rug and preparing the materials. The majority of rugs we purchase are made of wool that is handspun, washed, dried and finally dyed a wide palette of colors.
Weaving Rugs
Next is the painstaking task of weaving the rug. An average 9 x 12 rug can be on the loom for four to five months before it moves to the final steps of washing and finishing. Many of the weavers are fourth and fifth generation artisans who learned the meticulous art of creating beautiful hand-knotted rugs from their fathers and grandfathers.
Finishing
After the rug is removed from the loom, it is far from finished. An oriental rug is a diamond in the rough at this stage. In order for its true beauty to be revealed, the rug’s pile must be sheared down to a lower height, and it must undergo specialized washes. Only after the application of these steps is the beautiful design fully apparent and the luster of the wool revealed . Even after this, there is still additional work to be done. The rug still needs to be blocked, imperfections must be corrected, and the final binding is added to the sides of the rug.
Washing & Drying
During the oriental rug making process, most rugs undergo 3-5 cycles of washing and drying. Careful attention must be given to these very important steps. A proper wash is critical in acheiving the desired finished product.
Huge Shipment of Oriental Rugs Unloaded at Green Front
Thursday, September 6th, 2012Green Front’s best single shipment of oriental rugs has arrived! These rugs were all hand selected by owner Dickie Cralle on his rug buying trip last Christmas.
Remember, Green Front has over a million oriental rugs in stock with the best selection and prices you will find anywhere — including the best inventory of Persian rugs in Virginia!
New Rug Shipment Including Flat Weave Soumak and Hand Knotted
Saturday, June 23rd, 2012A new shipment of oriental rugs from India has just arrived in Farmville, Building #1! The container of new merchandise is being unpacked right now and includes a large selection of Indian flat weave Soumak (Sumac, Sumak) rugs as well as hundreds of hand knotted pieces. And we have yet another container on the water packed and on its way!
Also, don’t forget, to make room for all the new rugs, we are still having special pricing through the end of June — Take an additional 20% off the discounted prices in Building #7 (Closeout Oriental Rugs) at our Farmville location ONLY.
New designs, new colors, new oriental rugs to make your room come together!
Brand new rug shipment has arrived from latest India buying trip
Sunday, March 18th, 2012
A brand new shipment of rugs has arrived from the Christmas buying trip in India as mentioned in our previous blog post.
This is the LARGEST shipment of rugs in Green Front history!
These new rugs offer the best selling styles and colors which are difficult to find considering the production of hand-knotted rugs has slowed dramatically. In fact, Green Front purchased the last of the supplier’s inventory.
Don’t miss your chance to get one of these top quality rugs at the lowest price you’ll ever find!
Holidays in India: A New Perspective on Rug Buying
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012By Den Cralle, Son of Green Front Owner Dickie Cralle
Den Cralle looking over a rug
To spend Christmas at home with family or in the slums of India.
For many this would be an easy choice, but I decided to try my luck with some much-needed rug buying experience.
My second trip to India was bound to be more buying oriented than my first trip four years prior. I had witnessed the enormous amount of poverty on my first trip, so I knew what to expect in that sense, but I didn’t really know how I was going to handle myself on this crash course rug-buying trip. I’m sure my dad can’t even remember how many times he’s been to India, so I knew I had some catching up to do.
Every morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to a cold Indian morning. We would start our day off eating a huge, largely unappetizing breakfast. Depending on where we were, the car ride from the city to the dealers took at least two hours. Throughout my trip, we spent about an hour at each dealer, contingent upon their stock and prices. Near the end of a long day, I wouldn’t have much concentration and my ability to pick out good pieces seemed more difficult. This is a tough business, but there are many payoffs and the whole experience can be very rewarding and exciting.
Three Things I Learned About the Rug Business
There are a few main things I learned about the rug business from my experience in India.
First, contemporary rugs are becoming a large part of the market, and you need good taste and a young eye to really get the good pieces. Many of the places we went to had different variations of the same concept, but after a few days, it became much easier to sort out the good from the bad. People living in city apartments might have different taste than someone living in a traditional suburban home. It is important to have variety in stock and new styles coming in. Contemporary rugs act just like fashion. A cool rug last year might not sell as well the next year.
The second fact that I took away from this trip was that machine made rugs are becoming much more relevant and accepted in today’s rug market. The technology has gotten much better and the quality of the machine made rugs almost rival that of the traditional hand-knotted rugs. More importantly, many people can’t afford large hand made rugs in today’s economy. These machine made rugs are a great alternative for a buyer on a budget.
Finally I understood that buying in bulk serves other purposes than simply getting a better deal. Every customer walking into Green Front has different tastes and you need to have something that fits their taste or they wont buy anything. Buying in mass quantity straight from the dealer insures that there is plenty of variety while also passing the savings onto the customer. Since my dad buys in the manner that he does, he gives Green Front the “wow” factor. The sheer amount of inventory amazes people and drives home the point that Green Front is the rug capital of America.
Den is a junior at Southern Methodist University and majoring in business.
Green Front owner and son return from another India trip, buying huge (unprecedented) quantities of rugs
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012Green Front Owner Dickie Cralle and his son Den spent two weeks in Turkey and India over the holidays buying huge containers of oriental rugs.
Many of the world rug buyers are pulling out of the market because of economical reasons and leaving their orders on the looms and at the mills. Mr. Cralle purchased this remaining inventory to bring back to the rug warehouses in Farmville, Manassas and Raleigh at extremely low prices.
Many of these rugs can be seen in popular catalogs, magazines and design centers across the country, and now is your chance to purchase them at UNBEATABLE prices. Green Front has over a million oriental rugs in stock with inventory arriving weekly!
Read about the trip from the perspective of Den Cralle, the owner’s son
*UPDATE* The rugs have arrived! Read more and view the photos
Rug Buying Trip in India
Monday, September 13th, 2010Green Front’s Ashley Cooper is in India on a rug buying trip and sending us updates. Here’s the latest…
Weaver making a sample rug
Friday, September 10: Over the last few months, our agent in India has been compiling what he asserts to be one of the most exciting and beautiful collection of rugs he’s seen in years. All of these pieces are awaiting final approval at workshops we’ll be visiting across India. Another leg of our trip will take place next week when we venture into Nepal in search of new workshops specializing in modern and transitional styled oriental rugs.
Sunday, September 12: Yesterday was a nonstop rug buying marathon! From 8 in the morning until 10 at night, we went through stack after stack of oriental rugs from the best companies in Jaipor, selecting only premium pieces and negotiating rock bottom prices. We’re now speeding down the road on the way to Agra, dodging sacred cows and mopeds, in search of more fantastic merchandise.
Monday, September 13: Things are going well. We’ve been all over India working 12-14 hour days trying to get to all the rug companies–over 20 in all. We’ve found some great looking rugs–really focusing on acquiring modern and transitional rugs which is what our customers are asking for. We listen to our customers and give them what they want. At some of the companies we’ve been able to see them making rugs.
We were able to see the entire rug making process–27 individual steps involved in preparing the wool, weaving, washing, shearing the pile, binding and tying the fringe. The amount of tedious labor is incredible!
