About Us
The Rug Rack opened in 2000 by Mike and Miriam Thompson. Miriam’s background in art, home interiors, and window fashion design paired with Mike’s previous career in the carpet and area rug industry, brought about your not-so-traditional “Mom and Pop’ store. In 2010, their daughter, Katie joined Miriam and soon thereafter, Mike seized an opportunity with a growing rug importer. Mike and Miriam are both highly recognized and respected in the business. As
the economy has evolved, businesses like The Rug Rack have as well, transitioning to a boutique style of showroom. They’re no longer just selling rugs, but various home accessories as well. The Thompson’s believe that knowledge and quality truly matter. Anyone can roll out a rug but the right rug can make all difference in a room for a personalized look!
Their resources represent the very best importers and manufacturers in the world. From elegant one-of- a-kind hand woven wool rugs to affordable power loomed rugs, they stay up to date in color, style, and design. The Rug Rack and Home Décor strives to have the best variety of inventoried rugs. In October of 2015, they introduced Legacy Linens Bedding, which can be bought off the shelf of can be customized with a reasonable wait time!
We think of Chattanooga as a “melting pot” so we have kept pace with the evolving styles and our inventory and product knowledge reflect it. We have several custom rug programs for those customers needing special sizes, colors, and designs. Power-loomed, hand tufted and hand knotted rugs are available in custom programs. If we can’t find it then we can certainly design it!
Gather your thoughts, paint chips, and fabric swatches and head to The Rug Rack. If you don’t have any of that picked out, come draw your decorating inspiration from a beautiful rug from The Rug Rack!
Miriam Thompson
From a young age, Miriam has been blessed with the gift of “seeing color”. She attained her degree in Art from MTSU and went on to start her own window coverings business, which she ran while raising three children. In 1999, Miriam, along with her husband Mike, decided to put their life experiences to work by opening The Rug Rack. With her background in color and design Miriam took to the rug business quickly, becoming a very respected retailer in Chattanooga as well as the industry as a whole. She is frequently asked to do interviews for Trade Magazines and for her input on collections by manufacturers.
You will find no one better to assist you in making the best decisions regarding color and design, not only for area rugs, but most any area of your home or business.
Katie Thompson
From the age of 12, Katie has been around her parents as they built the business. Through observation she learned the importance of listening to the customer in order to better fill their needs. Now that type of experience, along with a degree in Organizational Management, Katie has become an integral part of The Rug Rack’s operation now and into the future.
In addition to her listening skills, Katie has learned a lot from Miriam about color and design. These are the most important things to understand when helping customers find what is best to fulfill their needs.
Mike Thompson
Mike grew up around the carpet business and that lead him to the area rug business in 1996. After years of selling and managing sales teams for Shaw Industries, he was given the opportunity to help manage the company’s area rug division. Mike fell in love with the idea of selling more color and design oriented products and that lead to the marriage of Miriam’s talent and Mike’s experience. They formed The Rug Rack together in 2000.
After years of growing the business together, in 2013 Mike was offered an opportunity to join a rug importer as Sales VP and General Manager. Mike and Miriam decided that was the way to go and Miriam is now the principal owner of The Rug Rack and Home Décor. You can catch Mike at the store most Saturdays.