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STARK is a premier design industry partner for luxury residential and hospitality carpeting projects.
To live our mission of helping create beautiful spaces, we believe our first responsibility is making design industry professionals the heroes in their projects because supporting businesses helps to preserve craftsmanship and enable unique and specially designed spaces to exist. In meeting their needs, we must continue to deliver peace of mind service while offering an expansive, diverse, and innovative product assortment that is accessible and convenient.
Established by Arthur Stark and his wife Nadia in 1938, the foundation of STARK was always to provide the very best products to our clients. With a rich history, third generation owners Chad Stark, as CEO, and Ashley Stark, as Creative Director, bring the STARK legacy into the new century by staying true to their founding principles. To seek out the best craftsman and methods of manufacturing for the most innovative and beautiful designs.
Arthur Stark learned the carpet and rug business on the spot. Leaving behind a 10-year stint on Wall Street as an arbitrage man, Arthur Stark began a new career in floor coverings by supplying interior decorators. Barely knowing a rug from a carpet, it was strictly a sink or swim proposition – just the right type of challenge for a man with courage, self-confidence and astuteness for selling. 8 years after sourcing his first rugs, Arthur Stark incorporated Stark Carpet in the State of New York on August 23, 1946.
In 1950 STARK introduced a magnificent Rainbow X Plain Velvet weave Broadloom carpet for the first time in America, available from 12, 15, and 18 feet widths in 20 carefully researched colors. Woven to our specifications using the finest of dyes and blended yarns to give luster and durability.
Then, in July of 1957, STARK became the exclusive sole distributor in the United States of the “Petit Point Group” from La Place Clichy, Paris, France. STARK's introduction of this collection anticipated the American demand for the sophisticated European design carpet in a fresh palette. These carpets were faithful reproductions, by known French designers, of period pieces belonging to well known collections. They were mechanically woven to simulate European needlework in designs based on trellises and incorporating floral motifs
Stark has had the privilege of helping to furnish the White House since the Kennedy Administration. Our flame stitch linen rug, as seen in this photo, was installed in 1961 and is still made by Stark today.
Founder of Stark Carpet Corp., died at his home in the Ritz Towers, in New York, November 16th. He was internationally recognized for his research and documentation of carpet design and for his discovery of craftsmen, in small carpet mills here and abroad. He was noted, also, for his work with young people, training and providing careers for them in the crafting of fine carpets. Nadia Stark, who was a fashion model in the 1930s, designed women's hats for several years before joining her husband, Arthur Stark, in running their burgeoning carpet business. Mrs. Stark was active in the operation of the company until illness forced her to retire in early 1992. Nadia Stark died on Tuesday, September 28, 1992. She was 81.
At a time when fashion was wild for animal prints, STARK introduced the iconic Leopard Rose and its animal print carpet collection, which became instantly iconic. As popular today as ever, STARK's Leopard Rose is still used by top designers who favor its graphic appeal and iconic pattern.
John and Steven Stark joined the company in 1971 and carried on Stark's tradition of always seeking beautiful carpets and weavings, new and old, from all over the world. The Stark brothers have built a two-showroom operation into a burgeoning multinational firm with 31 showrooms across the U.S. and in Europe, its own U.S. mill and manufacturing partnerships worldwide.
In 1976 Stark Carpet's first major expansion outside of New York at Los Angeles' Pacific Design Center.
The acquisition of Old World Weavers from it's original founder Carl and Iris Apfel in 1992, launched Stark into fabric and wallcovering: the division grew to incorporate seven noted brands, among them Fonthill and Grey Watkins.
Stark Carpet opens the first showroom outside of the United States in London, England at Chelsea Harbour Design Centre.
To handle the growing business at STARK, John and Steven Stark decided to move the majority of the inventory to a 158,000 s/f warehouse in Calhoun, Georgia. The Calhoun facility has expanded to just over 310,000 s/f encompassing three buildings. The expansion paved the way for the growth of the Rug Department and Broadloom Inventory Operation. The facility is also now the home of STARK's Accounts Receivable Department and other corporate departments.
In 2004, John's daughter, Ashley Stark, joined the company to add a fresh perspective and bring the next generation's energy to the company. She is now Creative Director. Chad Stark, Steven’s son, joined the company in 2008 as a student intern after graduating from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in 2011. He is now CEO.
STARK and Decorative Carpets merged their Los Angeles showrooms, offering the area’s design trade improved product selection and a new brand: Decorative Carpets by STARK.
STARK merged its fabric division with Scalamandré, creating a new company under the Scalamandré name. This move brought together the companies’ product lines and teams, with Chad Stark as President and Scalamandré’s Louis Renzo as CEO.
In 2018 STARK continued to expand, launching the wholesale line Stark Studio Rugs. This line focuses on high-quality, accessibly priced floor coverings. STARK also launched a new STARK Hospitality & Contract division to meet the growing demand of designers who love using Stark's products for their contract projects.
STARK introduced Halcyon, the world's first collection of hand-knotted broadloom carpets that marry handmade luxury with wide coverage and fast turnarounds. The new collection comes with a super fast turnaround, with an arrival time from just eight weeks. The rugs are 100% silk and a whopping 18 feet wide, are all crafted using traditional methods in Nepal.
In 2019, STARK opened the company's first showroom in China, based in Shenzen.
In October of 2020, Chad Stark was named CEO. Chad manages the day-to-day operations, while Steven, John and Ashley Stark, remain the company’s President, Chairman, and Creative Director, respectively. This next chapter of STARK is focused on delivering World Class Service to clients around the world with technology and new product development being major areas of investment.
The acquisition of J&S Designer Showroom marks a continuation of STARK’s ongoing strategy to expand its physical footprint in key design communities across the country. Over the past four years, STARK has acquired Los Angeles-based showroom, Decorative Carpets to form a new brand, Decorative Carpets by STARK. Partnered with established flooring companies in Denver, CO, Little Silver, NJ and Southampton, NY. Most recently, STARK acquired Philadelphia flooring company, Beatrice & Martin Inc. in December of 2020, resulting in the formation of Beatrice & Martin by STARK.
In 2022, STARK launched Ashley Stark Home—a new destination for rugs, wallcoverings, tabletop, lighting, decor, and design collaborations curated by tastemaker and STARK Creative Director Ashley Stark in her signature style that mixes modern with classic, old with new, and the expected with the unexpected.