The Persian Carpet

Specialties

Retail and wholesale handmade oriental rugs

History

Established in 1976.

Doug and Nelda Lay opened The Persian Carpet in 1976 after Doug’s research at UNC took him to the Middle East, and he began to learn about rugs. What started as one stack of rugs in a rented corner of an antique store has developed into an international business. The Lays not only maintain the large retail store with arguably the best selection of handmade carpets between New York and Florida, but they design, manufacture and distribute their own lines of carpets as well, including British Arts & Crafts and American Prairie Style carpets as well as American Southwestern rugs, perfect for lodges, mountain homes, and rustic décor. The Persian Carpet is a family run business based on a tradition of trust and reliability. Known for our excellent customer service, quality selection and fair prices, our aim is to offer ultimate satisfaction to the customer.

Meet the Business Owner

Douglas L.

Business Owner

The owner of The Persian Carpet, Doug Lay, started his career as a zoologist at the University of Chicago, becoming a world expert in… gerbils! His interests landed him a position with a mammal collection expedition to Iran in 1962. He made 18 trips to Iran over the following two decades and made the acquaintance of his second love, oriental rugs. As he learned more about oriental rugs and made connections with rug dealers, Doug opened The Persian Carpet, with his wife, Nelda, in 1976. Doug is now a respected expert on oriental rugs and speaks and conferences nationwide on the topic. He is also certified by the Oriental Rug Retailers Associations as an oriental rug appraiser and conducts appraisals for insurance replacement, estate liquidation and disaster losses.