Like some of the best in the business, Oriental Designer Rugs had humble beginnings. The Golchha family started the company out of a modest 600-square-foot space in Manhattan in 1984, and since then they have grown the company to be a powerhouse in the rug industry.
After the family’s ancestral, highly speculative agro-processing and exporting business dissolved a few years earlier, the company began by importing and wholesaling woolen dhurries, which required minimal investment and were hot items at the time.
However, as the company expanded to hand-knotted rugs and other categories, cash flow became tight. Bhanwar (Benny) Golchha, who had earlier joined the ancestral family business, having completed his U.S. Master's Degree in Textile Engineering, navigated this period through short-term loans from college friends and liberal credit terms extended by the vendors. ODR considers these two gestures as one of the cornerstones of its success. The other was when Ms. Renu Giri joined in 1990. Though she had no background in business, let alone rugs, she learned its intricacies quickly through extreme dedication and hard work.
From then on, there was no looking back, and ODR further expanded its reach by establishing permanent showrooms at both the High Point Market and AmericasMart in Atlanta. With many customers based in the Southeast, and Atlanta holding the Olympics in 1996, ODR decided to move to Atlanta in 1994 as the region was destined for exponential growth potential.
Benny’s son Vineet entered the business full-time in 2002 and ushered in a brand new era by incorporating modern technology. Applying his digital expertise, he developed new patterns and colors in line with fast-changing consumer trends and tastes, digital selling techniques, and up-to-date online access to the inventory. He brought a modern approach to this otherwise conservative and traditional business.
During this 2001-2010 decade, ODR started importing hand-knotted rugs directly not only from India but also from Pakistan and Turkey. From just two to three programmed lines during the 1990s, ODR added over 15 programmed hand-knotted collections and one-of-a-kinds, from modern to Oushak, traditional, and classic.
“We go the extra mile and believe in personalized customer service instead of automated phone systems.“ Benny Golcha
Vineet, Renu, and Benny have rug industry experience respectively of 26, 45 & 52 years (1972-2024) covering manufacturing, exports, imports & marketing. They collectively spend up to four months overseas every year to design, develop, and produce the company’s exclusive rug lines and virtually every rug is selected personally. Renu and Vineet mainly look after the day-to-day operations while Benny, at 78, is still active in overseas production and policy matters.
“We are proud to have a very loyal customer base, many dating back over 30 years,” the company says. “It’s our pleasure supplying them with our exclusively developed patterns and colors, providing top-notch quality at amazingly competitive prices by keeping our overheads low and passing on these savings to customers. We always go the extra mile and believe in personalized customer service instead of automated phone systems.”
