Safavieh to Make Martha Stewart Area Rugs

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 5/1/2006 12:00:00 AM

New York — —

New York — On the heels of its partnership with designer Thomas O'Brien, upscale area rug company Safavieh has inked a second major licensing partnership — this time with lifestyle guru Martha Stewart.

The multi-year agreement between Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. and Safavieh calls for a new line of Martha Stewart-branded area rugs to be introduced in January during the Atlanta International Area Rug Market, and ready for retail for spring 2007.

The MSLO design team, under the guidance of Stewart, is creating the designs for the collection, and Safavieh is manufacturing the rugs, which include handmade and machine-made varieties as well as wire-loom rugs to met more competitive prices.

The retail price points are expected to range from $200 to $3,000 and above, depending on construction. Target retailers include independent furniture and rug stores. Also interested in the collection is Federated Department Stores, with which MSLO in April signed a multi-year distribution partnership to develop an all-new line of Martha Stewart Collection home merchandise exclusively for Macy's in fall 2007. The rugs will complement MSLO's Martha Stewart Signature furniture line with Bernhardt, which is sold at independent furniture dealers nationwide. Additionally, through its partnership with KB Home, MSLO expects to showcase the area rugs in the model homes in the Martha Stewart-designed communities throughout the country.

“Area rugs are an important design element in the composition of a home, be it a small entryway or a large living room,” said MSLO founder Stewart. “We are designing an extraordinary collection of rugs based on our archive of ideas and singular patterns, some of them inspired by rugs that we have personally been collecting for decades.”

Added Arash Yaraghi, co-president of Safavieh: “Martha and the MSLO design team cleverly take the best of traditional and contemporary designs and translate them into simple classics that people love to have in their homes.”

Dalton, Ga.-based Shaw Living was the last area rug supplier to create the floor covering program for Stewart, under a previous licensing agreement.