Leslie Stroh walked both The Rug Show at Javits and the Home Fashions Market. His very cryptic remarks:
There were two markets in NYC in September. Both were instructional. The Rug Show at Javits for knotted rugs was interesting because it illustrated how dependent the rug business has become on designers.
The absence of decorators (decorators are not designers) and the middle market was illustrated by the gap between the knotted rug business and the machine made rug business.
However, the machine made rug business and printing is undergoing a revolution in product and design adaptation as well as starting to revolutionize their marketing.
The low quality middle market is gone. The Internet is driving the price of the 5 “bys” to the floor, and the quality with it. It is going to be exciting to see how quality products are re-positioned for bricks and mortar, and the marketing as well.
