As New England as Chowda

     The art of braiding rugs started in New England two centuries ago, and is still going strong. During a recent event at our Weymouth store, customers came from as far away as New Hampshire to browse through our selection.
     Braided rugs had a very utilitarian beginning: they were made to keep homes warm during the cold New England winters. The colorful braids had nothing to do with decorating sense - our frugal ancestors made them from strips of worn out clothing. When one color or pattern of cloth was used up, they would just start with another color or pattern. That's where the traditional striped look comes from.
     Sooner or later, the crafter's creativity came through and they developed their own styles. Now that these rugs are made by machine, there is no end to the colors, patterns, shapes and sizes to choose from. They are no longer just for warmth, but also to decorate your home in timeless style.

Defending our Borders

   We have sold items of all description (and some beyond description) here at Building #19, such as airplane escape slides, prison uniforms and wet t-shirts. That's the nature of this business: we buy good stuff because the deal is irresistible - if you offer customers a true bargain, they'll buy it.

    The other day, Nick, our machine woven rug merchant, (the rugs are machine woven, not Nick) came to the advertising department with rug borders. We asked our usual questions, "what are they?", "how much do they cost?" and "what do you do with them?". Nick explained that these are the borders that manufacturers fancy up their area rugs with - they attach them to the edges of a plain sisal or broadloom rug and voila! you have a custom made, decorator quality rug. He told us that the borders are very high quality, he has dozens of different styles and widths, they're 100% wool, and the customer can cut them easily with a utility knife ..... AND they're only $1 per foot!

     The whole deal sounded like a real winner until we asked Nick, "What do you do with them?". The only thing he could come up with was to use them for stair treads. Actually, that's a great idea; you can cut them to the exact width of your stairs.

    However, we at Building #19 can't just stop at the obvious use for them. We want to hear from you, our customers, so we're running a contest. Just drop us a line and tell us the answer to the following question: "If you were the proud owner of some of this rug border, what would you do with it?" Send your answer to advertising@building19.com by Monday, April 16th, and we will randomly pick a winner from the entries and give that winner a $100 Building #19 gift certificate. There is no purchase necessary to win, and you can use the gift certificate towards anything at Building #19.... like a hundred feet of rug border.....

ps: here's a link to the Couristan website to see how rug borders are used:
http://www.couristan.com/Residential-Showroom/Custom-Rug-Program/cms.aspx/Guid/%7B5AC5FD5B-D75C-42D3-B2BF-2BF44285A64E%7D