Rug Supplier Homespice Décor Marks 10 Years in Industry

Company Currently Sells Product to 3,000 Stores

By Cecile B. Corral -- Home Textiles Today, 1/7/2008 12:00:00 AM

Tucker, Ga. —

Braided rug manufacturer Homespice Décor is celebrating its 10th anniversary in the rug industry this year.

Homespice Décor was the brainchild of Junior Gupta, the company's owner, who got the idea to create braided rugs from leftover material used to make quilts for his father's company, J. Quilts.

Gupta said he quickly discovered that using these fabrics instead of yarn offered "a new variety in color and interest."

J. Quilts soon added braided rugs to its assortment, and it was not long before the new category became the company's top-selling product offering.

The result: a new direction for the company, and a name change to Homespice Décor.

"Rugs are what I have grown up with," said Gupta, who explained that he started attending trade shows and selling rugs with his father at a young age. "To migrate from quilts to rugs was stepping into more familiar territory for me and I feel like I've returned to my true passion."

Some of Homespice Décor's highlights over the past decade include: the introduction in 2000 of a rectangular braided rug in more contemporary looks and colors; and in 2005 the addition of an indoor/outdoor trademarked "Out-Durable" olefin rug.

More recent products include: the trademarked "Supernova" collection of hand-made braided rugs with a circular pattern at the center and rows of braids spiraling out to the edge; and the cutting-edge Penny Braid Combination rug, which features a centered penny motif surrounded by multiple rows of braids, made of wool.

Homespice Décor currently sells its products to 3,000 stores, and the company is generating 500 times the business it achieved in its first year.

This new year, Homespice Décor will introduce nine new colors and will add them to its top-selling braided rug category, representing one of the company's largest product launches to date.