By: Behnam Ghasemi | Mena Covering
In 2013, during the DOMOTEX Hannover exhibition, I had the unique opportunity to sit down with John Feizy, founder and CEO of Feizy Rugs, one of America’s most renowned rug brands. An Iranian-American entrepreneur with roots in Arak, Iran, Feizy had spent decades mastering the global rug business, establishing a name synonymous with innovation, quality, and design in both handmade and machine-made carpets.
During our conversation, Feizy offered a refreshingly candid perspective on the state of the Iranian carpet trade, particularly its global standing. His words carried both the weight of experience and a call for change:
“The Iranian carpet trade smells old,” he remarked bluntly.
“While the artistry of Persian rugs is unmatched, the business behind it has not evolved. Many Iranian traders are still operating in traditional, outdated ways. They lack the necessary market insight—particularly in terms of size variation, color palettes aligned with global trends, and mass production capabilities.”
Feizy emphasized that the global market, especially in the United States, had shifted dramatically. Buyers and retailers expect more than just craftsmanship; they demand reliable supply chains, consistent sizing, color customization, and prompt delivery. This, he explained, is where Chinese, Indian, and Turkish manufacturers have outpaced Iran.
He illustrated his own approach:
At Feizy Rugs, the company transformed the shopping experience by cataloging products, maintaining large inventories, and enabling retailers to easily reorder specific sizes and designs. With warehouses in Dallas, Hamburg, New York, and Las Vegas, Feizy built an infrastructure that could support both traditional art and modern commerce.
On the machine-made carpet sector, Feizy shared his experience of acquiring the COVTEX factory in Gaziantep, Turkey, after facing challenges in Romania. Turkey’s accessibility to raw materials, spare parts, and skilled labor made it an ideal hub for production—advantages Iran, in his view, lacked due to operational limitations and regulatory constraints.
When asked whether he considered investing in Iran, Feizy was direct:
“Currently, no. Iran’s manufacturing challenges, both operational and bureaucratic, make it a difficult environment for scalable, efficient production.”
Yet, despite his critique, Feizy’s insights were not dismissive but rather a passionate plea for modernizing the Iranian carpet industry. He admired the inherent artistic heritage but believed that without embracing market demands, logistics efficiency, and updated production models, Iranian carpets would continue losing ground internationally.
John Feizy’s foresight remains relevant today. More than a decade after our conversation, many of his observations still ring true, offering a roadmap for Iranian carpet producers who wish to regain prominence in the global market
