Birmingham, MI, Feb. 24--When Kamran Karimpour was growing up in Iran, he loved to tag along with his father on trips to the Persian Bazaar to visit the rug merchants, according to the Detroit News.
He was enchanted by the vivid colors and rich textures of the Oriental rugs his homeland has been exporting for centuries.
Now Karimpour and his wife, Kristi, have helped create an Oriental rug district in downtown Birmingham. Five years ago, they moved their store Woven Treasures in between two larger and more established competitors, Hagopian World of Rugs and Azar's Oriental Rugs.
At the time some friends and relatives thought that was a big mistake. "You're playing with the lion's tail," Karimpour was told.
But he said competition has been good for his business. "The easier you make it for customers to shop around and check you out, the easier it is to get their business," he said. "Of course, if you are not a straight shooter, competition is going to work against you."
Karimpour said Woven Treasures can compete against bigger stores because its customers deal directly with the owners. He and his wife visit their customers' homes to give advice on matching Oriental rugs with the decor. They take the time to explain the characteristics of Oriental rugs so that their customers can make informed decisions.
Since his two nearby competitors offer a wide variety, Karimpour said people don't have to look any further than downtown Birmingham when they are shopping for an Oriental rug.
"Traveling around the world I've seen that reputable people of the same trade tend to congregate near each other because it just brings in more business," he said. "People who aren't up to the competition tend to shy away."
It's the same approach taken, for example, by auto dealers at Troy Motor Mall or the hundreds of merchants in the famous gold district in Dubai, the Persian Gulf emirate.
The strategy has worked so well that Karimpour will soon open a second store a few doors down that will sell furniture in addition to rugs in order to compete with bigger furniture stores nearby.
Karimpour came to the United States in 1978 at age 16, just before the Iranian Revolution. After graduating from Oakland University, he got a job as an analyst at First of America and was working on an MBA degree.
But he gave up his promising banking career when his brother-in-law started sending him Oriental rugs from Iran. He opened his first store in 1990, even though family members didn't think he could make a good living.
"I didn't feel the corporate world was for me. It didn't fit my personality and I didn't have my freedom," he said. "I had to do it my own way."
Karimpour considers himself a purist when it comes to rugs, and at first insisted on selling only the highest quality rugs that met his standards for design, craftsmanship, durability and materials. Those rugs can cost as much as $60,000, and he realized that very few customers can afford such a big investment.
His solution has been to diversify into less expensive categories of rugs while still maintaining his basic standards for quality.
"I want to sell the best $1,000 rug anyone can find," he said.
