Dear Stephen,
I work in the area rug and carpet industry. Every other day, I get a call from a headhunter—or directly from a company's HR department—about job opportunities.
Where I work now, we produce high-end custom and bespoke carpets and rugs, often designed in collaboration with designers and architects for residential, hospitality, aviation, and marine projects. We compete with companies like Edward Fields/Tai Ping, The Rug Company, ABC Carpet, Stark, Golran, Kasthall, Nanimarquina, Limited Edition, Gan, and Royal Thai.
When I first joined this company, luxury residential was the mainstay of our business. That's still part of what we do, but it's no longer our primary focus.
The work is very technical. There are multiple construction techniques—hand-knotting, hand-tufting, and woven constructions—as well as a wide range of materials like wool and silk. The design possibilities are endless, and there's a lot to learn. Pricing matters, but clients are often more interested in creating something unique—and interior designers, of course, love bespoke.
I love this industry. Many of my friends work in interiors—some sell furniture, others sell lighting, wall coverings, residential, contract, luxury—you name it. They're always complaining about their jobs. Meanwhile, I make great money and get to work with beautiful products and talented designers every day.
If you're interested in design and craftsmanship, the floorcovering industry is a great place to build a career.
I see you often advising people on how to pivot their careers, and I didn't want you to overlook the floorcovering space. Sometimes I feel like people walk all over us—no pun intended. My question is: would you agree that floor covering is a good area of the interiors industry to work and sell in?
Signed, Rugs to Riches
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Dear Rugs to Riches,
Thank you for reminding me to share your industry with my readers and for telling us about your world.
We recruit from many of the carpeting companies you compete with. Some have even been clients we've recruited for in the past. These companies all have great salespeople—which is why they're great companies to work for and recruit from. So I guess the cat is out of the bag: floor covering has some really great people and companies. And there's a lotof money to be made!
We've found that to enter the floor covering space, salespeople need a strong technical understanding of how rugs are constructed—whether hand-knotted, hand-tufted, flatwoven, or Axminster woven—as well as knowledge of the various fibers used, like wool, silk, viscose, and blended materials. Beyond being design passionate, this technical expertise is essential.
Understanding pile height, gauge, density, backing systems, and finishing techniques is also part of the industry's language. These are just some of the technical aspects we had to become fluent in as recruiters to work in this sector. I felt like I got my master's degree in rugs recruiting for these companies—a testament to how much information there is in this industry.
Like I said, the money can be excellent. There seems to be a revolving door of salespeople in this industry who move from company to company. It's not because of recruiters—people are simply moving. Like many design-driven industries, relationships with interior designers, architects, hospitality groups, and dealers are critical. When people build strong books of business, they often become very attractive to competitors.
While floor covering is a great industry to enter, it is, as I mentioned, very technical. Anyone looking to move into the carpet and area rug space needs to be ready to hit the books and learn the craft of floor covering. It's an ancient tradition!
My advice to anyone hiring in floor covering, carpets, and area rugs: don't be so quick to turn people down just because they're not from a direct competitor and don't have the technical knowledge yet. That's shortsighted—and it's also why many of these companies have sales openings for too long. As I always say, the longer a sales job is open, the more revenue the company is losing.
I encourage potential clients who call us in this space to be open-minded to people they believe can learn the craft. To find those people without experience, you shouldn't even need a recruiter. While they may not bring a book of business, they're likely to bring something arguably more valuable: passion.
To answer your question: yes! Floor covering is a great space in the interiors industry to work in. Floor covering companies looking to hire people who already understand the business and will bring their client base with them—be prepared to pay top dollar and offer guarantees for the business new salespeople will be losing when they leave their current job. This market is just that hot!
Signed,
Stephen