In the early part of the 20th Century, the Oriental rug business in Minnesota was booming. Behind this huge success were the Armenians. As early as 1903, advertisements were placed in the local papers in Minneapolis to mobilize hard-working Armenian men to assist with rug repairs. Many of these early pioneers then went on to sales positions and later opened shops of their own.
In the 1920′s the Armenian rug section of Minneapolis began in the downtown district. Starting on Nicollet Avenue between Seventh and Eleventh Streets there were four major Armenian rug dealers. This included John Karagheusian who was building up the Oriental rug department at Dayton’s Department Store and several rug service and repair businesses on Hennepin Avenue between Franklin and Lake Street. Kavoukjian’s Persian Rug House on the corner of Bryant and Thirty-sixth opened in 1924. The little shop eventually moved to a new building on the other side of 36th and then out to the suburbs.
The old Rug House is now home to a salon called The Chair and Young’s flowers. There’s a wonderful history of the Persian Rug repair business and the people who built it on The Armenian General Benevolent Union’s website. You can Click Here to go there and check it out!