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Rug Insider Magazine
News for the Rug and Carpet Professional 
It is the beginning of October, and the New York-New Jersey area rug industry is still abuzz from the excitement of the two major Fall Market trade shows that took place in September — Cover Connect in Midtown Manhattan and The Rug Show in Secaucus, New Jersey.
We are entering Fall 2024, with the sweltering summer heat behind us and the welcome return of more temperate weather. This comes along with the annual return of kids to school and of the workforce to a full-time schedule. For those of us in the area rug industry, the arrival of the Fall season also brings with it the return of our clients and colleagues from their summer vacations, the return to a jam-packed schedule of showroomsits, appointments, and product introductions, and perhaps most significantly, the return of the much-anticipated Fall Rug Market Shows.
Zollanvari International returned to the recent Maison&Objet Paris, September 5 – 9, 2024. Located on one of the main red-carpet aisles in the prestigious FOREVER sector of the fair, the company presented an entirely new stand concept, with a featured artist presentation and the debut of its new Zollanvari International Contract Collection. RUG INSIDER spoke with Ramin Zollanvari just ahead of this weekend's COVER Connect NY about this exciting and diverse production.
We had the privilege of speaking with two Portland, OR-based interior designers who are at different points in their careers. Kinsey Bagwell is working towards her third year, while Donna DuFresne owns a respected and well-established practice. Both provided keen insight into the field of design and how the rug industry can better serve the profession.
“We already have close relations with our factories,” observes Daisy Barquist of Tamarian, “but we are NOT in Nepal 24/7!” She and her colleagues want to stay up-to-date about conditions in each of their locations, to make sure all the weavers have what they need and are treated safely and fairly. Now, “There’s something very reassuring knowing that they are being monitored frequently.”
There is a saying, “what’s old is new again.” Fashion works in cycles, and what is popular at a certain time might fall out of favor for a while, only to be rediscovered some time later, and celebrated once again as the trendy “new” item of the moment.
Dover Rug and Home is one of the select few area rug companies that has been around for over three decades and has grown from one store into multiple stores. Spanning several generations, this community-oriented and philanthropic company has also expanded into—sports and fitness.
The Dover Rug story began in 1989 in the garage of its founder, Mahmud Jafri, in Dover, Massachusetts. After a career in real estate that was suddenly derailed by a market crash, Mahmud Jafri had to find a new career path. A family friend offered to send him a shipment of hand-knotted area rugs from Pakistan, with a time limit of six months in which the rugs would need to be sold or returned. The rugs arrived soon thereafter and were kept in Jafri’s garage, from where he would show them to friends and neighbors.
The rugs were an instant hit, and Mahmud Jafri realized that he needed more space and more rugs. He took on a 200-square-foot space in Dover in 1991, which he soon outgrew. He subsequently moved to a 2,700-square-foot space in Wellesley, MA, where his operation and his client base grew.
With the clientele expanding, so did the need for a supply of fresh and exciting area rugs. To facilitate this, Mahmud Jafri would have client meetings early in the morning on certain days of the week, and on other days, leave Massachusetts at 4 a.m. to head to New York City, where he would source additional rugs from the Manhattan wholesale Oriental rug district.
Father and son Mahmud and Hasan Jafri at Dover Rug
The Dover Rug operation, staff, and client list would all continue to grow exponentially over the ensuing years, and in 2003, they opened a second location on the South Shore, with a showroom in Hanover, Massachusetts. They had once again outgrown their primary location in Wellesley and moved into a larger 28,000-square-foot facility a few blocks away on Route 9.
The next several years would see continued growth and expansion, leading to the Hanover location being combined into a newer, larger, 36,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art location in Natick, MA. This new, centralized location would combine the multiple prior facilities and the company’s needs under one roof, with a rug showroom, a warehouse, and a cleaning facility all together in one massive space.
Throughout the years, and through all the expansion and growth of Dover Rug, Mahmud Jafri maintained a love and dedication to playing squash. In a rare instance of an area rug company combining work and play into the same facility, Jafri took a portion of the new 36,000-square-foot space in Natick, MA, and developed it into a Squash and Fitness facility! Thus was born Dover Squash and Fitness, with three fully functional squash courts and with a full fitness center.
How many area rug veterans can claim to not only frequent a gym and maintain regular dedication to sports, but also have a gym and a squash court on-site along with their rug store, and make that part of their offering to their colleagues and clients? This surely sets the Jafri family apart as a truly unique and visionary family within the rug world!
Dover Rug's location in Boston’s highly desirable Back Bay sector
Something else that sets the Jafri family apart, and which has helped them to grow even further in the past decade, has been the arrival in the business of Mahmud Jafri’s youngest son, Hasan. After graduating Bentley University in 2014, Hasan Jafri joined his father Mahmud at Dover Rug, and immediately made an impact. Shortly after his addition to the team, Dover opened a third location in Boston’s highly desirable Back Bay sector!
The Dover Rug location in Boston’s Back Bay area has become a key addition to the Dover portfolio, as it has become a hub in which clients and designers living in the metropolitan city area to be able to come in and make rug selections, plan their designs, and coordinate between them all. It runs in coordination with the larger facility in Natick, which hosts Dover Squash and Fitness.
The Jafri family did not stop there, finding that they could also serve their clientele to the North of Boston, and even into New Hampshire and Maine. This led to the development of Dover’s third location in 2016, with a new showroom in Burlington, MA (shown below).
Across 35 years, multiple stores, multiple locations, thousands of clients, and countless rugs, there have been a few constants for Mahmud Jafri and family. These have included working hard, being honest, doing right by their clients and their staff, and treating others the way they would like to be treated themselves. This simple recipe has led to tremendous success, and with their three locations all running strong, and providing great rugs and great service to Dover’s clientele.
Beyond these simple strategies and family ethos, the Jafri family puts a great deal of time and dedication into making sure that the rugs they bring in for their clients are the best that they can be. The Jafri family regularly works with their rug industry partners and manufacturers to develop top-quality rugs, with colors, styles and materials that are on-trend and high quality.
The dedication to providing high-level rugs and consistent customer care has been a successful formula for the Jafri clan, who have seen multiple generations of not just their own family at Dover Rug, but also multiple generations of their clientele. Many of the clients who were with Dover early on have sent their children and grandchildren to Mahmud and Hasan Jafri over the years, keeping the continuity going through several decades. This deep connection with the clients and their families speaks volumes about the level of commitment the Jafri family has to their community, and to how well they have established themselves and their value as high-level rug vendors and as esteemed community leaders.
This community connection and high level of customer care have led to many awards and recognitions for the Jafri clan. Mahmud Jafri received the Immigrant Entrepreneur Award in 2013, and was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to his Advisory Council on Immigrants and Refugees. Mahmud Jafri is also a member of several industry groups, including ASID (the American Society of Interior Designers), IFDA (the International Furniture and Design Association), and the WFCA (World Floor Covering Association). He is a recipient of the Best of Boston Home Award, and the CNC Reader’s Choice Award.
Dover Rug is also involved in philanthropy, regularly supporting over 50 charitable organizations. Of these, Mahmud Jafri sits on the Corporate Executive Council of the WGH, as well as serving on the Board of the Boston chapter of the Citizens Foundation, a non-profit organization that builds schools for underprivileged children in Pakistan. The Jafri family opened a school in Pakistan in the name of Mahmud's late parents, Abida and Syed Mohammad Jafari. This multi-generational family business has earned additional accolades, including being named the Massachusetts Family Business of the Year, courtesy of the Family Business Administration.
Mahmud’s son Hasan has followed in his father’s footsteps and has been instrumental in developing a new generation of clients and designers for Dover Rug. Along the way, he has also received accolades and awards, including being a Trustee and the Chair of the Leadership Council for his alma mater, The Dexter Southfield School in Brookline, MA. Hasan Jafri also serves on the Young Leadership Council for SquashBusters, and additionally served as the Finance Chair for the New England Chapter of the ASID (American Society of Interior Designers).
The multi-generational family behind the success of Dover Rugs is also family-oriented behind the scenes, with Hasan living in Boston with his wife, Ailya, and recently welcoming their first child, their son Husain. Hasan’s father, Mahmud lives with his wife, Zeba, in the very same original house where Dover Rugs was started decades ago. While this house was the birth of the business, it is also the central destination of Mahmud and Zeba's grandchildren who are in Boston, California, and Washington D.C. Despite his passions for rugs, squash, community, and his clientele, Mahmud has found a new passion that might top them all; being a grandfather!
When asked if there was a single sentence that summarizes their outlook on life, both the elder and younger members of the Jafri clan didn’t hesitate to put forward pithy statements that pack a lot of meaning into just a few words. Mahmud says, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” Hasan followed that with an equally pithy response, saying, “Our best today, better tomorrow.” They are clearly a hard-working and forward-thinking family, and Hasan hopes that his son, young Husain, will carry the family forward someday into yet another generation, another decade, and another level of growth and achievement, for the long running and high-achieving Dover Rug family.
This year marks a major milestone for not just one company but the global rug industry as a whole. Oriental Weavers USA is turning 35, and this domestic division of its Egypt-based parent has much to celebrate about its role and relevance over the past three and a half decades—and counting.
