Trade Am

-- Home Textiles Today, 2/26/2001 12:00:00 AM

Norcross, GA

In Trade Am's 14-year lifespan, 100 percent of its hand-tufted area rugs have consistently come from China and India.

"It's a matter of labor and craft. The labor is cheaper, and the craftwork done over there can't be done here," said Louis Raji, senior vp, marketing and sales. "You need a lot of people to produce it at a rate the U.S. wants it but not at the price. If we made our rugs here, it would cost us 20-times more to make them."

Raji described Trade Am as vertically integrated, citing that while Trade Am imports it also manufacturers a large amount of product overseas in order to remain "customer focused."

"We are very customer focused," Raji said. "Everything we make is built around a customer's need. We can manufacturer any product a manufacturer requests."