FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION

Stitch by stitch, Oriental rugs are delicately fabricated to tell a story of culture and tradition. As these rugs are purchased and traded, they begin to display the value and importance that only comes from passing time.

Nazaret Sirinoglu, owner of Nomads Loom, is a true Oriental rug expert, with a keen eye for quality rugs and what makes them so special. With one showroom on the ground floor of the Dallas Market Center and another on Slocum Street, in the heart of Dallas’s Design District, Sirinoglu and his family have been bringing beautiful antique rugs to the Dallas area for over 50 years.

Sirinoglu’s deep passion for rugs is what sets Nomads Loom apart from other competitors in the business. This passion has given him an eye for choosing only the most remarkable rugs, allowing him to maintain a topnotch collection. “Finding an antique rug can be like finding an amazing piece of art,” Sirinoglu remarks. “On rare occasions we stumble across a truly special rug, which makes us thankful for our vision.”

Most of the rugs in the store’s inventory are at least 100 years old, guaranteeing the antiqueness that makes Oriental rugs so intriguing, but there is also a fine offering of high-quality rugs dated post-1940. Sirinoglu takes great pride in the vast inventory that Nomads Loom has acquired, but is working toward narrowing the inventory down to a more selective collection. “Eventually, instead of having 5,000 good rugs, we’d rather have 500 top-tier antique rugs,” he explains.

Additionally, Nomads Loom offers a variety of other services, including trading, cleaning, restoration, appraisals and renting. Sirinoglu takes pride in the services his store offers and especially enjoys working with customers to help them find the rug that they’re looking for. The business is currently in the process of broadening its services to customers even further by creating a website that will serve as an online showroom.

Coming from a long line of Oriental rug traders, Sirinoglu was destined for success. His father’s teacher, Zareh Usta, was an Armenian master weaver as well as a rug dealer in Caesarea, Turkey, and Sirinoglu’s father, Haygaz Usta, designed Hereke silk rugs from a very young age, using skills taught to him by Zareh. Haygaz was very successful in his business and his rugs were renowned at a time when silk rugs were at their peak. Naturally, his father wanted to keep the family legacy alive, so he passed down his knowledge and experience to his son. Father and son worked together for several years until Sirinoglu moved to Paris and then to New York to complete his studies, while still working with silk rugs on the side. “My father’s support and guidance helped shape me and my business today,” says Sirinoglu. “Eventually, I’d like my son, Sarven, to take over and run the store.”

When Nomads Loom began selling in the Dallas area, it was truly breaking new ground. “When we first started the business, we were the first importers of Turkish rugs in the country,” Sirinoglu explains. Bringing this new culture into the area has allowed for other dealers to grow their own businesses by feeding off of Nomads Loom’s supply. “Many dealers never even knew what an ‘oushak’ rug was prior to us,” he adds. Nomads Loom has also been expanding its own collection by shipping in new rugs from overseas, all the while remaining true to its theme of sticking with the classics. “The trends in rugs are always in flux, so we try to always pick beautiful rugs that will be timeless regardless of what type it is,” Sirinoglu says.

From producing and designing world-class silk Hereke rugs to designing a rug for the Green Room in the White House, the Sirinoglu family has gained a reputation for quality and integrity, in which they take pride.

Much like the antique rugs they sell, the expertise of understanding and recognizing quality Oriental rugs has been passed down through the years. The Sirinoglus have built a successful, reputable business, which they know will continue as it is passed along into the hands of future generations.

Emma Burleigh is a part-time freelance writer living in College Station, Texas.

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