As a third-generation business owner, family and tradition are important to me. I think they say a lot about what my business stands for and how I treat my customers. Also, it's very rewarding to work with the children and grandchildren of my father's customers and those of his father before him. So I'd like to tell you a little about my family's work in this business and how Persian Rug Galleries got started.
It all started in Boston
My family's involvement in the carpet business in New England goes back to the early part of this century. My grandfather, Husney Mahfuz, came to this country from Lebanon when he was 14 years old. He opened a rug store called Araby's on Boylston Street in the early 1900s. My father, Fouad Mahfuz, worked in the business. He delivered rugs from the Boston store all over the region, and on trips through the Nashua area he fell in love with the city.
In 1953, my father finally made the move to Nashua. He packed up the family, including me as an infant, and with $300 in cash moved to the city to open his own store. The first location was at 75 Main St., in the building that now houses Darrell's Music Hall. At first, he didn't have the resources to carry any new Oriental rugs. But it was a time when many families were installing wall-to-wall carpeting, and so many used Oriental rugs were coming on the market. From this source he built his first inventory - a total of maybe a dozen used carpets - and got the business started. He kept things small at first, so it didn't take much to keep the business running, and he emphasized the service, cleaning, and repair of rugs.
Nothing else I'd rather do
The store moved to a variety of downtown locations as it grew, and it wasn't long before I became involved. One day when I was eight years old, my father brought me to work - we loaded up the truck, went out to a job, and made a delivery. I loved it, and I knew from that moment on there wasn't anything else I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I soon learned how to lay carpet, and worked with our crew on jobs all over town. It was a great adventure - for instance, I remember installing the flooring in the original Miller's Department Store in downtown Nashua.
At one point, when it was clear I would follow my father into the business, he drove me up Main Street and said something that has shaped my attitude ever since. "See all these people in business?" he asked, as we drove by the many family-owned stores that made up Nashua's downtown then. "They're betting on you to fail." I asked why, and he told me a hard truth - that it's extremely rare for a third-generation family business to survive, never mind grow and prosper. From that moment on, I became dedicated to proving that conventional wisdom wrong - to learning everything I could about carpeting and business in general to be able to build on my father's legacy.
Dad's still very much with us
Persian Rug Galleries eventually found a permanent home at 227 Main St. in Nashua, which is where our store remains today. My father passed away in 1981, but not a day goes by when I don't tell a story to a customer that involves him or make use of some kind of wisdom he taught me during the many years we worked together. Even without him, it's still very much a family business - I've tried to foster that same spirit among my employees, and in the showroom you still might run into my mother, who keeps an eye on us all.
Over the years, the lessons my father taught me about how to treat people and how to do business have helped us prosper. Today, Persian Rug Galleries occupies all three storefronts in our building. Last year we upgraded the exterior front, remodeled the basement into a state-of-the-art flooring showroom and design center, and opened a new rug cleaning plant.
Though it's gratifying to be successful, the most important thing to me is that I'm carrying on in my father's tradition. He established a reputation of honesty and integrity I've worked hard to maintain. I'm very proud of what he stood for and have tried to continue that reputation in my business dealings.
– Sy Mahfuz
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