Sarkis Kish Oriental Rug Moves

Friday, November 13, 2009 | Modified: Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 5:59am CST

More small firms want to own

Some find buying more attractive than leasing

Memphis Business Journal - by Andy Ashby

ALAN HOWELL | MBJ

Sarkis and Sarko Kish bought a building for their Oriental rug business and are leasing some of it for income.

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In the face of a tough economy, Sarkis Kish Oriental Rug has consolidated its operations by building a new facility while adding additional revenue streams.

It sells middle- to upper-end rugs, which can cost thousands of dollars, depending on size and quality.

The business, which operates in the luxury segment of retail, has faced challenges since Sept. 11, 2001, according to vice president Sarkis Kish Jr., also known as Sarko, and the company has been looking at ways of saving money to maximize profits or invest back in the business.

One way to save money was by spending money.

The business bought a property near its longtime showroom on Sanderlin for $402,000, then spent $800,000 tearing it down and building a new 8,200-square-foot facility at 5179 Wheelis.

“It’s a better investment,” Sarko says. “We’re not paying rent to somebody else; we’re paying rent to ourselves.”

The building also allowed Sarkis Kish Oriental Rug to have its showroom, rug cleaning, rug repair, rug restoration and storage facilities under one roof. The company used to lease three different spaces: one for sales, one for repair and one for cleaning.

Its showroom was in a shopping center only a block away from its current location. The shopping center had better visibility, but the company figured that into its equation for the move.

“We realized people who were shopping for a rug were making a thought-out decision to shop for one,” Sarko says. “They weren’t just going to, because they were driving by or having lunch next door, pop in and get a rug.”

Sarko’s father, Sarkis, wanted to build a facility and subsidize it by renting out bays. In addition to its operations, the company now has two 1,800-square-foot bays for other retailers.

It recently signed Harrington Brown Art Gallery to a lease.

“We got the right tenant,” Sarko says. “We can feed off each other’s businesses because we have the same clientele.”

The company is also looking for a furniture store or interior designer for the second bay.

The Shopping Center Group LLC has handled the listings for the spaces.

Carson Claybrook, a broker with the Shopping Center Group, says having the landlord and tenant in one building creates a better rapport.

“I think this gives them less of a landlord/tenant relationship feel and more of a feel that they are both trying to make this location work together,” Claybrook says.

With both land and building prices dropping due to the economy, retailers that traditionally would not consider owning real estate are now looking for opportunities, particularly when there is upside in leasing excess space to complementary businesses, according to Gary Shanks, a broker at the Shopping Center Group.

“With additional store closings and bankruptcies forthcoming, there will continue to be opportunities for retailers to relocate and/or reposition themselves in the marketplace,” Shanks says. “Retailers are taking full advantage of market conditions in knowing they have the upper hand in negotiations.”

Claybrook and Shanks have seen a rise in leases being signed in the past 90 days.

“Most of these tenants are local mom-and-pop users that have anywhere from one to three locations and are taking advantage of the lower rental rates, and the ability to lock into a good rate for an extended period of time,” Claybrook says. “We also have seen movement in bargain-based retailers such as Big Lots, Family Dollar, Dollar General, that are surviving the storm better than most retailers.”

Sarkis Kish Oriental Rug

Rug sales, cleaning and repairs
President: Sarkis Kish
Address: 5179 Wheelis Drive
Phone: (901) 818-6878
Web site: www.sarkiskish.com

aashby@bizjournals.com | 259-1732

http://memphis.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2009/11/16/story4.html?b=1258347600^2434631

Magic Carpet exhibit, lecture, slide show

Ride The Magic Carpet as you travel from the Gods of the Himalayas to the 2500 year old Scythian Pazyryk Rug of Siberia in search of the ancient symbols that have express cultural values.

Through an exhibit, education lecture and slide show titled: Expressions Through Symbols in Oriental Rugs, the powerful images woven into hand made rugs that have spoken to man since time immortal will be explored.

This unique event is free to the public and will be held

7 p.m. Saturday, at The Magic Carpet Gallery, 408 Broad St., in Nevada City.

For information, call (530) 265-9229

Sir James Mellaart further Discredited

Sir James Mellaart a British archeologist with a dodgey reputation for playing fast and loose with the truth has been called into further question for his conclusions on the "mother goddess" hypothesis. Jeremy O’Brien who is on placement at The Irish Times as a British Science Association Media Fellow publiehed in the Times an article that casts great doubt on Mellaart's methodology and conclusions. Evidence that supported his hypothesis was retained while artifacts that refuted it were cast into the “spoil heaps”.

Mellaart based his theory on the large number of "goddess" figures but O’Brien writes:

For example Prof Lynn Meskell, also from Stanford University, has been studying the stone and clay figurines discovered at the site.

“The original project probably found less than 200 figurines. Our current project has found close to 2,000.”

“Now we have a very different picture of figurine production at the site,” she explains. “The greatest number out of that 2,000 are certainly animal figurines.

I include the O'Brien article because it shows that as we have seen in the past what Sir James Mellaart published is highly questionable to say the least:

New techniques undermine 'mother goddess' role in ancient community

A collection of the most typical animal figurines found at the archaeological site of Catalhoyuk in central Turkey. Archaeological work in the 1960s focused mainly on human figures but new techniques have unearthed mainly animal figures.

JEREMY O'BRIEN in Guildford

MODERN SCIENTIFIC methods are revealing how the world’s earliest farming communities lived about 9,000 years ago.

Newly discovered human and animal figurines are also overturning some of the previous misconceptions about an archaeological site first opened in the 1960s and a supposed role played by a “mother goddess” for the ancient peoples who lived there.

The evidence is coming from an archaeological site called Çatalhöyük. “This is this amazing site in central Turkey, which is about 9,000 years old and is often talked about as one of the first large settled communities,” explains Prof Ian Hodder from Stanford University. “Çatalhöyük was excavated in the 1960s in a methodical way, but not using the full range of natural science techniques that are available to us today.”

“Sir James Mellaart who excavated the site in the 1960s came up with all sorts of ideas about the way the site was organised and how it was lived in and so on,” he said. “We’ve now started working there since the mid 1990s and come up with very different ideas about the site.”

“One of the most obvious examples of that is that Çatalhöyük is perhaps best known for the idea of the mother goddess. But our work more recently has tended to show that in fact there is very little evidence of a mother goddess and very little evidence of some sort of female-based matriarchy.

“That’s just one of the many myths that the modern scientific work is undermining.”

For example Prof Lynn Meskell, also from Stanford University, has been studying the stone and clay figurines discovered at the site.

“The original project probably found less than 200 figurines. Our current project has found close to 2,000.”

“Now we have a very different picture of figurine production at the site,” she explains. “The greatest number out of that 2,000 are certainly animal figurines.

“There’s certainly less than 5 per cent that could be considered female.” Ironically, they have found many figurines in the “spoil heaps” that the earlier researchers discarded.

Among other finds at the site is the earliest evidence of milk use in human history.

On the role of the site in supporting a mother goddess legend, Prof Simon Hillson of University College London says: “While I’ve been working there since the mid 1990s we’ve had various ‘goddess tours’ – people on bus trips going around Turkey looking for the goddess. For them Çatalhöyük is very important because it is the origin of the mother goddess.”

It seems that the reality may be quite different.

Jeremy O’Brien is on placement at The Irish Times as a British Science Association Media Fellow

William Morris and the Muslims

Play in either Real OR Windows Media players

Journalist Navid Akhtar examines the influence of Islamic design and values in the life of Victorian designer, poet, and craftsman William Morris.

The designs of William Morris are inextricably linked to the curving sinuous arabesques of traditional Islamic Art.

He was inspired by Turkish ceramics and Persian carpets to create a new movement in British design.

For him the Muslim world had managed to preserve the art of the craftsman and avoid the ills of industrial production.

However his admiration went beyond the surface, Morris was influenced by Islamic ideas of what art should be.

His famous advice to "have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful," echoes the Muslim saying in the Koran that "God is beautiful and loves beauty".

Morris's artistic ideas including his love for nature, the use of repetition and symmetry, belief in everyday beautiful objects and emphasis on craft are essential Islamic artistic ideals too.

He espoused the philosophy that art should be affordable and hand-made; this was already a reality in the Islamic world.

Not stopping at arts and crafts, he was a passionate advocate of social utopianism and believed in the rights of the worker.

Today, these ideals have profoundly influenced a new generation of British-born Muslim artists as they rediscover Morris and look to his artistic work and socialist ideas for inspiration.

Navid Akhtar examines Morris's interest in Islamic design and takes us on a journey that has come full circle from the arts and crafts movement to contemporary British Islamic Art.

This documentary was first broadcast on click Radio 4 and first aired on BBC world Service on the 10th of August 2009.

AFGHANISTAN: Carpet Industry Crippled Without Govt Help

AFGHANISTAN: Carpet Industry Crippled Without Govt Help
By Hashim Qiam*

Profits from carpets go outside Afghanistan Credit:Najibullah Musafer/Killid Media

KABUL, Aug 13 (IPS) - Carpet weaving has long been a part of Afghanistan's history and culture.

Though it is unclear exactly when Afghans began making carpets, it is believed that long ago, women poured their emotions into the carpets they created, telling stories of hero's and prophets. Since that time, carpets have come to symbolise Afghan national dignity and stand as a testament to the creativity of her people.

Monawar Shah Haqbin, an Afghan historian, says that when kings in Afghanistan wanted to bestow precious gifts on one another, carpets were usually their first choice.

Also, when women wanted to marry, carpets were a crucial part of any dowry. Even today, when Afghan celebrities or public officials make an appearance during times of national celebration, they often do so on a red carpet, weaved by Afghan craftsmen.

Now, carpet weaving has an even more vital role as one of the few viable industries left in Afghanistan.

It is easy to set up a loom in the home and the materials for getting started are inexpensive and easily obtainable. Women can pick up the skill and make money for their families without having to leave the home and children.

While the northern part of Afghanistan has traditionally been the carpet-production epicentre of the country, since the Taliban came to power in the 1990's, the importance of Kabul to carpet production has grown. Women who could no longer go to school or work because of Taliban restrictions, could still make money by weaving carpets.

After the regime was toppled, the new government undertook many initiatives to train and monetise carpet production by Afghan women.

But still, the lack of large-scale resources to cut, wash and finish these carpets has crippled Afghanistan's ability to fully capitalise on one of its most valuable commodities. Experts say that until the government provides resources for start-to-finish production of Afghan carpets, the profit from these products will continue to go to those outside Afghanistan's borders.

Pakistan, Afghanistan's southern neighbour, has taken advantage of its proximity to the highest quality carpets in the world. The government of that country has made the carpet business easy for manufacturers and exporters.

Mohammad Esau, a former Afghan warlord who owns a carpet shop in the Pakistani town of Atak, says that Afghans in the area are currently operating hundreds of carpet factories. He adds that Pakistan's government has even offered him and other weavers citizenship, enticing them to make permanent homes on that side of the border.

A significant number of native Pakistanis are also involved in the carpet production business, but they tend to work in the finishing stages of production unavailable in Afghanistan, while the Afghans are responsible for the weaving and looming.

Pakistan's government has also made it easier for carpet producers to do business. They lend as much as 80 percent of initial investment capital to producers and give 13 percent tax credits on each shipping container full of carpets exported out of the country.

By comparison, the Afghan government's attempts to prop up the carpet industry are woefully inadequate.

In August 2007, the Afghan government held an inaugural carpet exhibition, called 'Let's Cover The World', in Kabul. Solyman Fatemi, former executive director of the Association of Promotion of Afghan Exports and Ahmad Zia Massoud, vice president of the Economic Committee in Government, pledged that "by opening a bridge of friendship between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, Afghan handicrafts and carpet exports will be increased."

The officials promised help with marketing and other promotional assistance, and also land-grants for carpet producers to build factories. But like so many promises from the government, Barik Andish says, no marketing was ever done and the land grants never materialised.

Mollem Salman Taj, who exports carpets from Pakistan to the wider world, says that while Afghan carpets have a superb reputation as the finest available, three decades of war have caused a rift between international carpet dealers and Afghan producers.

Taj says that marketing is the key for Afghanistan to re-establish its dominance of the carpet market. This would both help Afghanistan as an international brand, and perhaps entice Afghan carpet weavers who have fled to Pakistan or Iran to come back home.

There are still many native Afghans who have chosen to stay here and ply their craft. Sareqi, Gul-e-Barjaste, Zaher Shahi, Mashvani, Turkmani, Khal Mohammadi, Gul-Muri are the names of just a few of the 173 traditional Afghan carpet styles that are still produced almost exclusively in this country.

But exclusively is different from entirely. While these carpets are fabricated here, they are "finished" that is, cut, washed and completed in Pakistan. After the rugs are completed, they are affixed with a 'Made in Pakistan' label and shipped to buyers in Italy, France and Germany.

Part of the reason that the entire production process can't take place in Afghanistan is due to a lack of resources. Noor Ghori, who makes carpets in Afghanistan, says that cutting and dying of the carpets takes equipment and materials that Afghan producers can't afford.

As a result, the world loses a traditional Afghan product, and Afghans lose the full profit of their hard work and craftsmanship.

(*This is the second of a two-part investigative series on Afghanistan's famed carpet industry by Killid Weekly. IPS and Killid Media, an independent Afghan group, have been partners since 2004.) (END/2009)

A Renowned Rug Cleaning Company, Right in West Philly

Posted: Saturday, 01 August 2009 4:29AM

A Renowned Rug Cleaning Company, Right in West Philly

by KYW's Lauren Lipton

People from all over the country look to Philadelphia for many things. And believe it or not, rug cleaning has become one of them.

"People are sending us rugs from all over the place -- as far away as Washington State -- and many come from Florida."

That's Robert Zakian (above), owner of Zakian Bros. Oriental Rug Cleaning Specialists.

(Zakian:) "Back in the the '20s, my grandfather [far right] was going door to door. They would wash the rugs in our basement and then hang them on lines outside."

Now, through the magic of UPS and the Internet, they're going state to state as people from all over the country join people here in the Delaware Valley in sending their rugs to West Philadelphia to get them cleaned.

(Zakian:) "It's different than cleaning someone's pants or suit. People really have a love for their rugs."

And it's quite a process.

(Worker:) "It was in a flood, so it really needs to be thoroughly cleaned."

(Zakian:) "Check-in time is kind of the fun time. I pick up runs all day long, and I'll always hear on the PA system, they're paging Ali to come to the back. Ali's my head repair guy."

(Ali:) "There was water damage. It sat there for a long time. We're going to eliminate this, then re-seam it by hand."

(Zakian:) "A woman sent this in. It was her grandmother's, and it's dry-rotted badly. She really wants us to save it -- and we're going to."

This family-owned business has remained in Philadelphia all these years because they love it here. And it's a good thing, because the equipment is not going anywhere easily.

(Zakian:) "Just the rollers are probably about three tons each. And then there are steel rollers under that. You could land an aircraft carrier on top of it."

For more information, including tips on how to care for your own rugs, go to www.zakianrugs.com.

That's Positively Philadelphia!

Pektus of Aga John Oriental Rugs buys house

Auto Web site exec buys in Highland Park

by Ernie Larson, published Jul 03, 2009 · ShareThis

385 N. Deere Park Dr. E

Mr. Pektus

Geoffrey Petkus and Arpie Petkus bought a four-bedroom, three-bath home at 385 N. Deere Park Dr. E in Highland Park from Susan Strulowitz and Michael H. Braverman for $775,000 on May 28.

The 6,564-square-foot house in Deere Park subdivision was built in 1929.

Mr. Pektus is director for product development at Edmunds.com, an automotive Web site providing new and used car reviews, specifications and pricing information. He also has been the director of e-mail marketing.

He received his B.F.A. in graphic design/multimedia from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

Ms. Pektus is showroom sales and product developement manager at Aga John Oriental Rugs.

She previously was a design and project manager at Residential Real Estate Investment and Development. She also was a showroom manager at Tufenkian Carpets.

She received his bachelor's degree in fine and applied arts from University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

There were 276 sales in Highland Park in 2008, with a median sales price of $464,000.