What Are Nourison Rugs?

The Nourison rug company imports and manufactures a wide variety of rugs. Sam Presnell of The Rug Gallery discusses why he appreciates the company and the products they create and sell. Listen or read more to find out more about Nourison rugs.

John Maher: Welcome to The Rug Gallery with Sam Presnell. The Rug Gallery is an oriental rug company and carpet store in Cincinnati, Ohio. I’m John Maher, and I’m here with the owner of The Rug Gallery, Sam Presnell. Hi, Sam.

Sam Presnell: Hi, John.

John: Sam, today, we’re talking about Nourison rugs. What are Nourison rugs?

Sam: Nourison rugs is just a name of a company. It’s a big company that basically is an importer. They also do manufacturing as well. They started in the rug business in the early ’80s and have grown unbelievable. I would say if they’re not the biggest, they’re probably one of the top two or three of the biggest importers of rugs and carpet into the United States today.

They are, I would say, in my opinion, they are more of a quality company. They’re not just price… to have… they have some price issues like everybody for the big boxes in the internet business, but mostly their business is a little more started in the quality side of business and they’re more quality-oriented.

Nourison Rug Quality 

John: Given that they’re quality-oriented, are we talking about handmade rugs here that they’re importing?

Sam: No, I would say the majority of their stuff is machine-made today, but they also do a fair amount of hand-knotted still as well. They do a lot of tufted and what we call loomed products today and flat weaves. They kind of do it all, but they started in the hand-knotted side of the business when they originally started.

They’ve grown over the years to what the consumer was asking for and the price points they were looking at, but they never really… what I would call… compromise their quality value. They always had an incredible eye for color and design, and they always use that even today. Even if it’s an inexpensive rug, their products look like they’re worth a lot more than they sell them for.

How they differentiate from other rug brands

John: What are some of the other things that maybe differentiate this brand of rugs from other brands?

Sam: Well, they do a lot of custom work which means that they can make any rug any size for you basically. There’s limitations on some of that, but the majority of that, they have a line they call “Fifty to Infinity”, which is basically the products that they sell and broadloom that they make any size for you. They can also, when need be, make some of their machine-made stuff even to order as well.

They’re also a big broadloom which they make with roll goods, as we call it, by the foot, they do as well. They are definitely in the quality side of business there.

How to Display a Nourison Rug 

John: Where in the home would you display a Nourison rug? Is it just like any other rug?

Sam: I think it’s like any other rug. I think mainly today I think with the use of hard services, there’s rugs everywhere. The kitchen… if you want to use it… is a big area today which probably wasn’t that big when I first started in the business.

Definitely, the family room rug is a big selling area… the family room or what everyone calls it a heart room or whatever you want to call it. Then you have the formal spaces, the living room and dining room which have always been traditionally rug places. Then also, in three or four years… and studies, they are another area to put it in.

A lot of people were also with the popularity of the laminate, the hard flooring that’s going on out there. There was a lot of hardwood looks I should say, going into bedrooms now and they are also using a lot of area rugs in there as well now.

General Pricing of a Nourison Rug 

John: Would you say overall with Nourison rugs that you’re looking at getting a quality made rug, whether it’s hand-knotted or machine-made at a fairly inexpensive price compared to other rugs, is that what we’re looking at?

Sam: Well, I don’t know about compared to other rugs. I think there’ll be a lot less expensive rugs out there than theirs. I think it’s because a lot of people make things in quality that compromise, maybe the yarn system isn’t as fine, it could be the backing, it could be the tightness of the weave, the spin of the yarn, the ply, so many things can vary the price point.

Like I said, Nourison never really compromises on those issues, it seems like in my opinion. Whereas, other people, they don’t care  less — get it out as cheaply as we can, and so it falls apart. They’re not concerned about that.

Standing behind their products

One of the great things about Nourison, if you have a bad rug and it goes bad. Nobody makes a perfect rug and sometimes, I think, people have higher expectations of the rug they buy than it actually was meant to perform. Nourison is one of those companies that stands behind their products, and they stand behind their dealers, and they take care of those things, which is one of the things that help us, and also, make us a very high opinion of selling their products.

John: All right. That’s really great information, Sam. Thanks again for speaking with me today.

Sam: You’re welcome, John. My pleasure.

John: For information about Sam, The Rug Gallery and Oriental rugs and carpets, visit [theruggallery.com]. That’s rug gallery c-i-n-c-y.com or call 513-793-9505. Make sure you catch the latest episodes by subscribing to this podcast on iTunes. If you could take the time to give us a review on iTunes as well, we’d appreciate that. I’m John Maher, see you next time on The Rug Gallery.