Roz Rustigian

Roz Rustigian began her career as an Operations Analyst in the Hotel Division of Prudential Insurance Company's Real Estate Department in Newark, New Jersey. She is a graduate of Connecticut College and was one of first three women to attend the Cornell University Graduate School of Hotel Administration.

Roz currently sits on the Boards of the RISPCA, Rhode Island Donation Exchange Program and the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women. She has caterered, owned a gourmet shop, taught a cooking school in New York for divorced, male executives and was twice President of the Oriental Rug Retailers Association of America. She is a published author of articles relating to the operations of the rug business. Roz is active in AIDS Project Rhode Island a division of Family Service and is co-chair of the 2009 Walk for Life.

An avid gardener, tennis player and work-out enthusiast, she is also the single mother of two Rottweiler mixes, an African Grey Parrot and a cat named Dixie.

Roz has conducted classes many places including the Brown University Learning Community, the Providence Handicraft Club, the Providence Learning Connection and URI Textile Department. She uses a combination of blackboard instruction and 'hands-on' techniques to show students how to judge quality and condition, identify place of origin and determine age. She tries to make her lectures participatory and encourages questions at all points along the way. If you would like to book Roz for an event or a talk please feel free to contact her at the store at 401-751-5100

Edie Ajello

In 1981 Edie began working with Roz at Rustigian Rugs applying her textile knowledge and dexterity to oriental rug repair and restoration. For that first decade Edie rewove holes in Herezes , spliced splits in Spartas and otherwise performed the routine maintenance work on the ends and edges of our customers' rugs. Edie now supervises our repair and restoration staff as well as being the ever pleasant and gracious manager of the showroom.

Edie's love of textiles and her hands on study of their color and texture have been lifelong affairs. As a child she learned to knit, crochet and sew. After earning a bachelors degree in psychology from Bucknell University and as the mother of two young children, Linell and Aaron, Edie studied weaving at RISD and designed a series of crocheted animal puppets.

Edie worked as a tour guide at Slater Mill in Pawtucket demonstrating hand spinning and weaving and explaining the workings of the early textile machinery and the water wheel.

Like Roz, Edie lives in an historic house on Providence's East Side and relishes the challenge of decorating with color, texture and design.

In her other life Edie has represented House District 3 in the RI House of Representatives since 1993 and is a tireless advocate for equality in all facets of social, political and economic life.

Erich Haslehurst

Erich came to Rustigian Rugs in the fall of 2006 and manages our wall to wall or broadloom carpet division. He brings to the table an eclectic background of experience in design and retail. He worked for four years as an event planner and led the design team in floral work for weddings and other major events. He then worked at Kyureo in Wayland Square an eclectic and fabulous home & gift shop - that caters to sophisticated retail customers and a discerning design trade.

The rigors of 'performance art' and ad hoc design stand him well in the demands that custom installations require. Erich has a great eye for color and design and a genuine interest in working to ensure attractive and professional installations AND a happy client. The most rewarding thing for Erich is to assist interior designers and customers in finding the proper carpet or rug not only to compliment the aesthetic of the room(s) but also to address the practical demands of a daily lifestyle.

Sean Brown

Sean is the quintessential employee of a small business. With a CCRI art and music major, Sean has variously done stints as a professional musician, an artist’s assistant and a RISD woodshop aid. Not to be hemmed in, he has also ventured out as a window glazier, a carpenter, a construction worker, electrical apprentice, painter and kiln installer. In between he has been a fry cook, a copy machine repair tech and a gardener. In short, Sean can do just about anything that needs doing in a small business and picking up the skills of rug cleaning and repair were a snap for our multi-talented staff member.

 India Martin

If knowing how to knit by age five is not a behavioral precursor – then we don’t know what is. Our jewel in the crown of repair work is India Martin…aptly named for her skill as a weaver and a repair person extraordinaire! Waldorf schools nurtured the innate gift and her teenage years held little time for rebelling. Rather batik and woven scarves, paintings and fiber art were her forms of self expression.

The Textile Department of RISD was a natural haven for the eventual award winner (Textron Fellowship) and honors student who earned her pocket change as far back as ’96 here at Rustigian’s. Naturally, she jumped at the chance to apprentice at Berdj Abadian’s gallery in NYC with a former Vatican textile conservator. Happily India is still with us and, on the side, is a librarian and a free lance designer. Current projects include a line of blankets for the international market, industrial fabric design and the development of machine knit sweater prototypes.

 Jimmy Miranda

Jimmy Miranda has been that invaluable constant for Rustigian Rugs since 1944.  He was just a teenager when Rusty – with his own usual ambitious exuberance – decided to dig out the crawl space at 392 Benefit Street to make an office for his oriental rug business.  Jimmy was the man for the shovel and wheelbarrow project and somehow he stills grins when thinking about that task today.  He has been baby sitter (for Roz), a guardian of her childhood imaginary friends, a driver and companion to Rusty and a key service employee for 66 years…..His  logo is the warm infectious smile he brings to work every day.

Jose DeBarros

Jose has been with us since 1997. Jose is quiet and deferential and our personal bet is that he has received more complements on good service than the finest maitre‘d in New York…and many of those complements come to us in writing. Jose is long on patience, dedicated to his work and diligent in the carrying out of his various duties here at Rustigians. While running our cleaning plant and our delivery services, Jose has developed quite the eye for design. He is adept at suggesting rugs for customers and setting up our store racks with compatible and complementary rugs.