HISTORY
The history of the Minasian Rug Company, a family business originally founded in 1897, is the history of several Armenian family businesses that crossed paths and eventually came together, much as the various strands of wool are interwoven to create a fine carpet. In the late 1800s the Jorjorian, Nahigian and Minasian families had made their way to America and established themselves as Oriental rug dealers and cleaners in the Chicago area. Armen and Carnig’s father arrived in 1924 and joined his father (their grandfather) in Evanston, where there was an established Armenian community.
In the 1970s, brothers Armen and Carnig Minasian joined their father in the business and renewed the firm’s commitment to providing the finest antique and semi-antique carpets, hand cleaning and custom restoration/repair. Subsequent corporate acquisitions have added the selected inventories of Chicago-based Nahigian Brothers, Inc. and the Joseph W. Fell Collection of antique rugs and textiles.
Highlights of the Minasian Rug Company history include securing expanded lease agreements to supply oriental rugs to Marshall Field’s department stores in the Chicago area, and to Dayton’s in Minnesota, Hudson’s in Michigan and Burdines in Florida. Their Rug Care Service division also provided door-to-door services for clients of all of these stores.
The firm established its own design and manufacturing facility in Romania for the creation of antique carpet reproductions on an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with the Art Institute of Chicago and the Vatican Museums. Closer to home, the Minasians continue their relationship with nationally known rug expert Joseph W. Fell, who leads seminars and curates biennial exhibitions of antique rugs and carpets in their Evanston gallery location. The past 6 exhibitions have been published in the internationally known magazine HALI, the premiere periodical for antique and decorative carpets and textiles.
The Minasian brothers grew up in Evanston and raised their families here. In addition to civic and philanthropic activities, both are certified appraisers and members of the Oriental Rug Retailers Association. Armen serves on the Trustee-appointed board of the Art Institute of Chicago’s textile committee and as an officer of its Textile Society. Carnig teaches a course on Oriental rugs at Northwestern University and lectures at Chicago’s Frances Parker and Latin Schools. In 2001 he was appointed to the Advisory Council for The Textile Museum in Washington DC, an internationally recognized collection and center of textile study and research.
FACILITY
Minasian Rug Company is headquartered at 1244 Chicago Avenue in Evanston, Illinois. Our facility includes several spacious showrooms with an additional dedicated exhibition room and gallery, a fully equipped rug cleaning plant with drying/prep room, a rug restoration atelier, rug storage and vault space as well as office suites for management and support staff. Additional warehouse space is maintained in another Evanston location.
