Third-generation salesman weaves big dreams

When he was about 7 years old, Ben Shabahang's father sent him down the street, a tiny rug in his arms, to sell it to a nearby businessman. The man gave him a hard time, Shabahang remembers, but in the end, he bought the rug.

"I didn't know it had been arranged," Shabahang said, "and I was the happiest guy on Earth."

Opened decades later, Shabahang Empire Rugs in Southlake offers hand-knotted rugs in all shapes and sizes from all over the world. One of eight privately owned locations in the U.S., it is the latest piece of a family legacy spanning generations.

Shabahang was born in Esfahan, Iran, into a family of businessmen. His great grandfather had run an antique store and his grandfather had split his shop between antiques and rugs, but his father and uncles had bigger dreams.

They expanded the family store, focusing exclusively on Persian rugs, and sold them not only to their Iranian neighbors but also to dealers across Europe, the Middle East and the U.S.

Business was going strong — one of Shabahang's uncles even opened a location in Milwaukee — but in the early '80s, the violence of the Iranian Revolution drove the Shabahangs from their homeland. The family lived in Paris for five years before immigrating to the U.S., and although Shabahang was new to America, he was home among the rugs.

"My father actually never wanted me to do this business; he said, 'Go to school,'" said Shabahang, who was 15 when he moved to Wisconsin. "But even when I finished university, I knew my passion was rugs. It had always been rugs."

The industrial design graduate went back to work in the family business and in 2010, he struck out on his own, introducing the family's commitment to quality product and customer service to Southlake.

"I often joke that a rug is a drug, just missing its 'd,'" he said. "A majority of the time, a customer buys just one rug the first time they come in, but then ... the rest of the house looks naked."

Whether it is a day later or a year later, customers always come back for more, Shabahang said. His average customer will end up with 10-15 rugs. Here in Southlake, though, it is more than a business and a happy customer base that he is building. It is a whole new venture.

"I've started to weave my own rugs, my own designs," he said. "Within five years, I hope all the rugs in here will be my own."

A friend in India is helping him out, and less than a year after their first discussion of colors and decorating trends, Shabahang is supporting dozens of artisans weaving rugs that he and his customers have dreamed up. His designs are a fusion of contemporary tastes and ancient motifs, Shabahang said, and have become the latest thing to drive his passion after 24 years in the business.

"This is the American dream," he said. "From that little shop of my grandfather's to this, with me designing my own stuff, we've come a long way."

Shabahang Empire Rugs, 2325 E. Southlake Blvd., Southlake, 817-310-6363, www.dfwrugs.com