It’s a question many shoppers ask:

What’s with all the rug stores in Evanston?

“Every customer I have asks that question,” said Azad, owner of Serapi Oriental Rugs, 1049 Chicago Ave.

Azad, and other Evanston rug store owners, said it’s a simple tale of supply and demand — there are many in Evanston who can afford the ornately-designed, hand-made rugs that can cost thousands of dollars.

“It’s obviously a rich area,” he said.

If customers don’t find what they’re looking for at Serapi, they can visit the nine other listed rug stores in Evanston — six of which line a six-block stretch of Chicago Avenue between Grove and Main streets.

Evanston residents have a long history of furnishing their homes with higher-end rugs, said Medhy Douraghy, senior sales associate at Minasian Oriental Rug, 1244 Chicago Ave.

“People in Evanston know rugs,” Douraghy said. “We don’t sell cheap Indian or cheap Pakistani rugs.”

Minasian has sold rugs in Evanston since the early 1900s, Douraghy said.

The store specializes in antique Oriental rugs, while other stores offer newer styles.

Rug prices can range from $50 to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many Evanston residents can afford to buy them, Azad said.

Azad compared rug-rich Chicago Avenue with a traditional bazaar or merchandise market.

“(The area) already had five to six stores, which naturally attracted other (rug) businesses,” he said. “It makes it easier for people to find what they want.”

Most of Evanston’s carpet stores sell Oriental rugs, which are traditionally popular with wealthier people, said Suzanne Dryer Kaufman, president of the Chicago Oriental Rug and Textile Society.

“Probably George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had an Oriental rug or two,” Kaufman said.

Iranians and Armenians are the traditional rug sellers in the United States, but less-expensive Home Depot and IKEA rugs have now made the market more competitive, Azad said.

Sevak Alaverdyan, store manager of the 85-year-old Oscar Isberian Rugs, 1028 Chicago Ave., said high availability of less-expensive rugs makes selling rugs more difficult.

But people will continue to pay for higher-quality rugs like the ones at Minasian and Oscar Isberian, Alaverdyan said.

“People won’t spend thousands and put a bad rug in their home,” Alaverdyan said.

Reach Beth Murtagh at [email protected].

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rug rapture

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“People in Evanston know rugs.”

medhy douraghy,

senior sales associate at Minasian Oriental Rug

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chris danzig/the daily northwestern

Rugs are stacked high in Eli Peer’s Oriental rug store, one of 9 rug dealers in Evanston. Store owners say Evanston is a prime area for rug retail because of high demand from the city’s wealthier residents.