History

In 1906, Edward Kupelian, an Armenian immigrant from Constantinople, came to San Francisco to join his uncle in the Oriental Rug business. After conducting business on the West Coast for several years, he settled in Santa Barbara in 1920 and established Kupelian's Oriental Rugs. His son Lawrence followed in the business. In 1957 his grandson Anthony started in the business at the age of twelve. He started out washing and repairing oriental rugs. Two years later, Anthony's brother David joined in the washing and repairing. Both grandsons continued in the business with breaks for college and military service. By 1972 Anthony and David had taken over the business. Within a few years they had developed quite a reputation for their Antique rugs and their knowledge of them. Anthony attributes this to the fact that they had been working on antique rugs for many years. When you are up close and personal, you really get to know a lot about your subject! It is far superior to book knowledge.

In 1991 we moved our family to Bend for a more wholesome lifestyle. We have been providing Central Oregon with Oriental Rug services since then. With a great deal of encouragement from our clientele and the large demand for a full-service Oriental Rug store, we opened the store in April 2006 offering antique, semi-antique, modern traditional and contemporary oriental rugs. With the drastic economic changes in 2009, we adapted to the situation by closing the retail store until the economy turns around. Although the store is closed for now, the rug inventory and the personal Oriental Rug services are still being provided to Central Oregon by appointment. Kupelian's has been through many economic situations, including the Great Depression, and survived them all. This is just another bump in the road and we look forward to serving you with the same personal service we have in the past.