The Kitchen Table Story
"The
Rug Rats concept was born at my kitchen table in Farmville, Virginia
in the Fall of 1987. I started the business with $500," explains Sandy
Henderson, owner of Rug Rats. Her eyes dance as she remembers how the
idea first came to her. "I was excited from day one. 
A
man asked me if I could craft a carpet using one of the Matisse cut-outs
as inspiration. I said, 'Of course!' Then I figured out how to cut, sculpt,
and create the design he wanted to make a quality carpet. It just took
off from there."
Picture-perfect Farmville is hardly the place
where you would expect to find a revolution in carpet design. That's what
makes this story of vision, enterprise and optimism so uniquely American.
"Even then, I could sense the enormous potential there was for show-stopping,
one-of-a-kind custom carpets," recalls Sandy.
The Rug Rats retail showroom (separate from the
workroom) opened on Main Street in historic Farmville, Virginia in 1990,
next to legendary Green
Front Furniture, in quintessential small-town America. When Sandy
expanded the design workroom in 1992, the Rug Rats custom design business
moved to the next level.
"Our business has grown exponentially from the
small town of Farmville and central Virginia to clients all over the country.
Rug Rats is an ASID Industry Partner. We now offer many different lines
of the world's best carpets in addition to the custom carpets sculpted
in our workroom. I'm always looking for what's best, what's new."
Sandy is clear on the foundation for the Rug Rats
success story. "We owe the success of the Rug Rats phenomenon to this
- from the very beginning, we have kept our focus on three fundamentals:
high-end carpets, very competitive prices, and the unique ability to turn
our customer's inspiration into reality. We always find a way."
