New owners of The Rug Gallery plan for the future of a Zionsville staple
By Dawn Pearson
A new era for a Zionsville business is now taking off on what you could call a magic carpet ride of sorts. After 20 years of building his business, the founder of The Rug Gallery on Main Street, Mark Hilton, is retiring and has sold the business.
New owners Tom and Karen King decided to purchase The Rug Gallery to coincide with their other flooring businesses, which help customers with flooring upkeep, maintenance and restoration.
Their new tagline is “we know rugs and flooring from installation to maintenance,” according to the former Eli Lilly executive, Tom, and former vice president and branch manager of the Chase Bank in Zionsville, Karen. The couple raised their two sons, Jordan and Kyle, in Zionsville and after extensive research realized The Rug Gallery would be their next business move.
“Mark (Hilton) told us he wanted to retire, and we wanted a rug gallery, and it just made a lot of sense,” Tom said. “It just fit with our other businesses and I hated to see the bricks lose (The Rug Gallery). There has been a flooring store on Main Street since the 1970s.”
But they said they couldn’t have jumped in without the expertise and experience of their manager Sam Habibi.
Habibi has 35 years experience in the flooring game. He left E.F. Marburger to manage The Rug Gallery, and so the team was built.
“When Karen and I were finalizing this we both came to the conclusion at the same time that we can’t do this without Sam,” Tom said. “Sam is so well known and liked, his connections are endless, and he know hardwoods, tiles, not to mention all types of rugs.”
The Kings own and run two other companies; Sani-Bright Carpet Cleaning business holds the top service record on Angie’s List for carpet cleaners in the Indianapolis area. The 10-employee business also has a Certified Masters Rug Cleaner, the only one in the state of Indiana, according to Tom.
Along with The Rug Gallery and Sani-Bright, they own and operate MicroSeal, a fabric and fiber protection service.
The Kings hope all the businesses will make them stand out from their competitions and was customers and Zionsville residents to know that they are affordable and it’s better to shop local then at the big box stores.
“Some folds may think they can’t afford us since we are ‘on the bricks’ but we are more affordable then the big box stores and only sell the highest quality product,” Tom said. “We will get them a fabulous quality product that will fit in their budget. And our customer service and inventory will be unmatched from the big box stores.”
The Kings asked local business owners and other business people “to tell them the secret of the sale” and found great advise to add to their business plan and well established, customer service oriented business.
“We have the highest quality of flooring and rugs and the freshest inventory around,” Tom said. “We have hundreds of rugs that Sam hand selected from all over the world at great prices, and we will never have ‘a switch and bait’ sale.”
Many customers may also think that rugs are the only product at The Rug Gallery, which is not the case.
“We have all types of flooring, not only rugs, from hardwood to tile,” Tom said. “Hard surfaces are the future especially on first levels in homes and we can give them hardwood that will just melt with our rugs.”
One aspect that the Kings feels that separates them from their competition is offering free in-home showings and free pick-up and delivery for cleaning.
“Sam and his wonderful presence will pack up three or four or 10 different rugs and samples and we go to the house and roll them out for the home owner to see how the actual rug will look, and how it will beautify their home,” Tom said. “This raises customer service to a new high. We are there to inspect the job, ensure the customers are happy and we can even take their payment for the rug they buy at their home, all the while fitting their budget with the highest quality product.”
About the Kings
Favorite local restaurant in Zionsville? Carolina Grill
Favorite TV show to watch as a family? Colts or Parenthood
What is your favorite part of living and working in Zionsville? The small town atmosphere.
The King’s flooring businesses
The Rug Gallery
130 South Main Street, Zionsville
873-6139
carpetstoresindianapolis.com
Sani-Bright
4349 W. 96th Street, Indianapolis,
334-1900
www.Sani-Bright.com
MicroSeal Permanent Fabric Protection
334-1910
