Do You Know Why Your Area Rugs Aren't Selling?

FLOOR ED

Do You Know Why Your Area Rugs Aren't Selling?

Retailers either do well with area rugs or they don’t. I think the mistake with area rugs is to see them as a separate category...To sell them, you have to think like a customer.

Retailers either do well with area rugs or they don’t. I think the mistake with area rugs is to see them as a separate category.

Yes, consumers come in looking for area rugs but the area rug has a purpose. A salesperson, who understands how area rugs are used, has a much better chance of selling them. To sell them, you have to think like a customer.

What is the customer trying to achieve? How it will be used?

1. Will it be the focal point of the room? Like a magnificent vase or picture, an area rug can stand on its own. You will need to know more about the room to determine the purpose of the room. 2. An area rug can create pockets of intimacy in a room. It can pull a sofa and chair together and build a cozy space in the room. 3. It can link rooms as well as colors and patterns. An area rug containing colors of two rooms will make the rooms feel friendlier. 4. Used with a hard surface floor, an area rug can be ground cover for a floor.

Hard wood floors can be made more striking by adding area rugs. The eye will enjoy moving from the wood to the area rug making both more interesting.

5. Area rugs define an area, making it seem more formal or informal. 6. You might want to purchase scale furniture cutouts to help visualize what is presently in the room. Include watches of wall paper, paint and drapery samples as well as floor samples. Determine the walk around and moving space where the rugs will go. What is necessary to accommodate sitting, standing and working? You may not want them in heavy traffic lanes. Although they certainly can be walked on, you don’t want them to become a place to wipe your feet on as you come in from the outside. 7. If the customer is buying hard surface, suggest the possibility of adding an area rug at the same time. As elegant as wood floors are, they can be very dull; an area rug can make them pop. ■ Area rugs define an area, making it seem more formal or informal... As elegant as wood floors are, they can be very dull; an area rug can make them pop.

TIPS ON SELLING AREA RUGS

Though arguably the oldest floor covering, area rugs are always fresh and new. These days they’re as much about style, art and fashion as they are about protecting our floors.

Rugs provide what’s called eye relief, offering interesting colors and textures, creating special-use spaces like conversation areas, and breaking up large expanses.

The colorful nature of area rugs means you can quickly change the feel of a room by changing accessories to pick up different colors, shades and tones and especially effective technique for redecorating homes seasonally.

Rugs are extremely versatile. They’re at the top of the list for making instant do-it-yourself luxurious makeovers. Because they are portable they can begin in one room and move to another as your tastes evolve, you can take them with you.

But the true function of the area rug is fashion. They’re colorful and patterned to be intriguing. They break up an expanse of flooring like wood, ceramic, laminate and resilient, and the trend among designers these days is to use them in a layered fashion—often with pillows or tapestries, even over wall-to-wall carpet to create a focal point or make a personal fashion statement.