Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Shaffer.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Maria. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve been living in the United States for 27 years, I moved here from Buenos Aires, Argentina and met my husband in Pennsylvania. We lived in Alexandria, VA for over ten years, eventually moving to Texas in 2008. The Rug Fair started as an idea between my sister Mercedes and I, we’ve always had a passion for home decor, and we knew that handwoven fabrics we’re a new trend in decoration in Europe and the States. We started bringing our products from Argentina to Texas, my sister Mercedes takes care of the business from Argentina, and I take care of the selling here, we began selling on Etsy and to a local base around two years ago. This is all very new to us, we don’t know what the future holds, but if we are presented an opportunity to grow in this business, we would love to take the next steps to do that.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No, the road has not been an easy one, I work a full-time day job, and this has been a side-project of ours, but I would love to be able to work on it one-hundred percent of the time. Starting a business from nothing and becoming known is a very hard thing to do in today’s world, especially if you don’t have the income.
The Rug Fair – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The Rug Fair is a family business, home decor is our passion and we love to bring color to our customers. Our rugs and pillows are created from the same fabric, knitted by the talented women of villages in the province of Jujuy, close to the Andes, in the north of Argentina. They are made with pure wool and dyed with natural colors from local plants. Each one of our pillows and rugs are unique and will brighten any room. This is our beginning, we are new to the world of business, but this is our passion and no matter how small we start we’re always looking to grow and share a little bit of the Argentinian culture through our pillows, rugs, and clutches.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
For us, success would be acquiring a larger customer base and being able to put more time and money into our business, while keeping the quality and passion in our products the highest it can be.
Pricing:
- Handwoven Pillows (Various Sizes) $45-$60 Free shipping and inserts included.
- Handwoven Rugs (Various Sizes) $164-$170 Free shipping included.
- Handwoven Clutches (Similar Sizes) $20-$25 Free shipping included.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.etsy.com/shop/therugfair
- Email: therugfair@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/therugfair
Image Credit:
Lucila Rios Pita
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