Today, we’d like to introduce you to Dan Ansari. Dan was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Amy Switzer.
Dan, thank you so much for joining us today. We’d love for you to bring our readers up to speed – can you introduce yourself and share your story?
Ruggle Up as a business idea was started by myself and my business partner Adam. My family in India has been manufacturing rugs and supplying to the world for nearly a 100 years. So in a way rugs and carpets are in my blood having grown up playing on huge bales of woollen yarn and stacks of hand knotted carpets , with the fragrance of freshly dyed wool and jumping of stacks of super soft shaggy rugs. With messing around with the looms and the talented weavers this handicraft cottage industry has always been my first love .After working in the corporate sector in a management role ( which happened to be with a major European Furniture manufacturer), I realised that there was a niche and relatively untapped market for custom rugs and carpets , a market that was not being focussed on or catered for in an organised and systematic way. Any one who was able to do this, for them I knew it would be a very successful business model and that is precisely what i set about doing with my business partner and co founder Adam. So, four years down the line here we are scripting a story of overcoming challenges and pushing new boundaries and charting a path to success.
Please tell us more about your brand, RuggleUp
Ruggle Up is the retail brand of a family that is steeped in the tradition of rug making, now in it’s 4th generation of rug manufacturing and design, carrying the legacy forward. More than 8 decades ago our forefathers trudged in the tropical heat of a small town in India, setting up looms, managing the weavers, executing orders, sending posts to clients and waiting for months on end to receive orders with the basic postal service in place then. It was an era of Aubussan and Persian rugs and it would take months for a single piece, beautifully crafted, to finally get off the loom. It was an age that thrived on a slow pace and waiting patiently for each rug to be finished and delivered. Since then we have arrived in the digital age of the internet where distance is no longer a barrier, where quick and easy communication is the norm. In this age of fast paced life with quick turnarounds in demand and a hankering for pieces which can be changed according to the current fashion,without completely toppling over the budget, we have seen the rise and popularity of the customised rug. With our New York based design labs and sales distribution centre we are uniquely positioned to manage this. This rich background has developed in us an understanding of the need for change through the ages, taught us an appreciation of every kind of weave, be it the intricate persian knots, the relatively lesser quality- but with a quicker turnaround -Tibetan knots, the loom knots, the kazaks, the kilims, the flatweaves, the shags, the patchwork, the jacquards and eventually the tufted. Each kind is still being executed in our manufacturing units with the same zeal and care as it was in the years gone by. We have moved onto modern machinery and techniques that still deliver the same quality of carefully crafted rugs, with the same attention to detail and quality but in a significantly lesser time frame. This is not a business for us, it’s a passion. It has been handed down to us and we zealously guard and nurture it with the same foresight that our predecessors had. We are forging ahead with new ideas and concepts and improving on everything that they have built on. We proudly say that RUGGLE UP has simplified customisation and made it accessible and easy for both the end users and the trade sector. The combination of speed , quality , pricing and service that we offer cannot be duplicated within the industry, with turnaround times for customs rugs starting from 2 weeks. Come and join us on our journey where we can discover more weaves and textures as we keep on moving forward.
So, as we mentioned to our audience earlier, you were introduced to us by Amy Switzer Design and we really admire them and what they’ve built. For folks who might not be as familiar, can you tell them a bit about your experience with Amy Switzer Design.
Our association with Amy started when we were searching the market for designers with a fresh and original approach towards design. An approach which was original yet bold , subtle yet striking, and we found Amy a breath of fresh air. But this was only part of the story. We requested Amy to collaborate with us and she agreed .We could not have been happier to be working with her. The rugs that we are launching with Amy are a manifestation of Amy’s style and approach, what we had loved about Amy in the first place. The designs are original and colours are bold and fun. The use of organic shapes and contours in the rugs enhance both the design and space and add another dimension to the whole concept of design. The combination of strong design , bold colour and organic shapes harmoniously combined in a single rug is unique to Amy and a tribute to her creativity and flair as a designer. Creating unique rugs which can complete and compliment any interior style be it minimalist or maximalist with equal flair is special and that is what we love about Amy’s designs. Combine her flair with a specialist inhouse manufacturing set up like ours (which can create her designs in any size and deliver direct to the door in 4 weeks) and we have an unbeatable combination.
Website: https://ruggleup.com/Designers/AmySwitzer
