Oriental Rug Bazaar is closing the doors to to their Flagship Store at 5525 Westheimer Road in Houston, forever. This Saturday, they have an auction to clear every single rug in the showroom. It is a one-of-a-kind sale that will never happen again.
“This is the store that will be closing,” said Alan Taghdisi as he took Houston Life on a tour of the three story building his father built 43 years ago.
The space houses thousands of rugs and some of these rugs are worth thousands of dollars. Like one woven for royalty in the1880′s. “You can’t find rugs like this anywhere. These are things that were woven for palaces, castles. And you don’t have to live in a palace or castle. I’ve sold rugs like this to people who live in an apartment,” said Alan. This particular rug is worth upwards of $45,000. Alan expects bidding will start somewhere around $7500.
While not every rug is an antique worth tens of thousands of dollars, but each is its own work of art.
“You’ll find thousands of rugs during this sale from $250 all the way up to $100,000. And this is a time that you’ll find pieces that you could have never bought before.
From antique to modern. Persian. Wool. Silk. Oriental Rug Bazaar has a rug for everyone. They have a huge collection of Turkish Oushak rugs both antique and brand new. “There are hundreds of Oushaks that will be in this auction,” said Alan. He expects the whole lot will sell.
To move three stories worth of rugs you need an auctioneer who knows his stuff. “Oriental Rug Bazaar has engaged Lewis & Maese auction house, which is a very reputable firm here in Houston. David Lewis is our live auctioneer. He will be here on December 2nd,” said Alan.
David’s advice for getting the best deal on Saturday? “Turn up to the store,” he said. While there will also be an online auction where people are expected to bid from all over the world, there are many rugs not listed online meaning a lot of bargains in store for local bidders. “The value here will be incredible. Great bargains all day long,” said David.
Oriental Rug Bazaar’s World Headquarter on Westheimer Road in Houston is the largest and oldest rug store in Houston. Alan’s family have been in the rug business for five generations.
“My father bought this piece of land and built this building for Oriental Rug Bazaar in the early 80s. And this has housed thousands and thousands of the finest pieces for people to come and buy,” said Alan.
Alan pretty much grew up in the store.
“I’ve been selling rugs here since I was pretty much 15 years old,” he told Houston Life.
“For over 100 years, my family has been in the rug business. My great grandfather was one of the largest merchants in Iran in a city called Kashan, where we’re from. Basically, he started distributing rugs to people like Mr. Stanley Marcus, of Neiman Marcus,” said Alan.
The Taghdisi family history in the rug business is certainly an amazing legacy and over the past 43 years selling to Houstonians, Alan said, We’ve stood behind everything that we’ve sold to everyone.”
Be part of Houston’s history. The live auction starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday, December 2 at Oriental Rug Bazaar’s World Headquarters at 5525 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77056. You can also bid online but there will be rugs in store that are not available online. For more details call 713-960-9070.
Watch the video above for a look at some of the rugs that will be in Saturday’s auction.