For decades, Napans have driven past the Old Besalt Stone Building on Hwy. 29 in American Canyon, with its sign for “Navajo Rug Company.” The current owners, Jim and Susan Rowe, bought the business in 1976 from Jim’s father, who purchased it in 1957. Navajo has been a county landmark of sorts for over 66 years. As Susan Rowe pointed out: “The ‘Navajo’ in the company name was in reference to the business being between Napa and Vallejo, back before there was an American Canyon, not because we were purveyors of Navajo rugs.”
Navajo Rug Company carries an eclectic variety of high-quality, one-of-a-kind oriental rugs: Turkish, Persian, Afghani, Indian, Nepali, and Pakistani, a curated collection intended to blend beautifully with the sophisticated décor of wine-country homes. In the early days of building their rug collection, the Rowes made many trips to Turkey to find weavers who could produce rug designs for them directly so that they could dictate the colors, patterns, and sizes they knew to be appealing to their customers back home. Eventually, the Rowes would settle on artisans from two unique villages, where the colors, patterns, and quality were exquisite, going as far as purchasing special looms for these weavers that would allow them to produce the oversized rugs popular in Northern California homes. For the most part, other rugs in their collection are procured from young, entrepreneurial rug dealers in the Bay Area, many of whom emanate from the region of the rugs they represent.
Rug cleaning and repairs are another equally important aspect of Rowe’s business. Their process respects the variety of rug types and their idiosyncrasies, and all work is done with extreme care. Navajo Rug Company’s facility can expertly wash and condition nearly any kind of rug, from cotton and wool to synthetic and machine-woven to hand-knotted rugs and animal skins. Rugs are first thoroughly vacuumed, then hand washed with simple soap and water in a bath. Following, the rug is fed into a Mirza rug cleaning machine, where it is more thoroughly cleaned and rinsed, ending with the extracting of the water as the rug makes its way between two large drums. Rugs are then hung on poles in a well-heated room until thoroughly dry. Once taken down, the detailed work begins. The fringe is carefully rinsed with a formula that brightens the fibers, then is unknotted and brushed out, after which the entire rug is brushed to separate and soften the nap. The cleaning process requires a week at the shop to be properly done.
Repairing rugs is another essential service Navajo Rug Company can provide, which is done by highly skilled weavers. For repairs needed on handwoven rugs, be they rips or worn spots, the shop’s weaver can rebuild the fragile rug sections, expertly matching color and nap. For machine-made rugs needing fixing, Navajo Rug has a binding machine that can do the repairs.
Zachary Rowe is the third generation of the family now running the show at Navajo Rug Company, providing the high-quality products and services to which their customers have become accustomed.
FOR MORE INFORMATION 707-643-4575 // www.navajorugco.com
3456 Broadway St., American Canyon, CA 94503
