I have a lot of colour and patterns in my rooms at home, how do I find carpets that will work with everything else I have going on? Is a Sh8,000 carpet as good as one that goes for Sh1 million? Do I go for patterned or full-blown shag?
These are the questions many Kenyans ask themselves as carpets flood the market, from luxury Persian rugs to affordable Chinese imports, all vying for buyers’ attention.
“I refer to carpets as the clothing of a home,” says Sahar Shahrabi of Persian Carpets, a shop in Nairobi’s Rosslyn Riviera mall that deals in both handwoven and machine-made Persian rugs. “It doesn’t matter what kind of furniture you put in, without a carpet, it still feels like the home is not warm or cozy.”
Ms Shahrabi’s business, which sources carpets from Iran (Persia), was originally started by her father about 14 years ago. She made her way into the fold at the seventh year mark before eventually taking over the reins.
“It didn’t start as a shop or a big business, my father would just bring a few pieces and exhibit them at home. At the time, it was difficult because people didn’t know much about Persian carpets or understand why they were so invaluable, but the customer base has slowly grown over the years.”
Now they have a growing market, particularly among those who can afford luxury furniture and who, in addition to quality, care for the art and culture that comes with their home decor pieces.
“Before, people didn’t see carpets as a necessity and were unwilling to spend a lot of money on them,” she notes. “But now people have experienced other qualities of carpets and realise the difference. They appreciate Persian ones for their high quality and because they are long-lasting. They no longer ask many questions when they come to the shop now.”
Of the two types the shop offers, the machine-made ones sell more because they are more affordable and their maintenance is easier.
“Using a soft brush and carpet shampoo, you can even wash them with water but for the hand-made, no. Those are very special. They are made from a sheep’s natural wool and with natural dyes from things like walnuts and pomegranates which are cooked before the wool is dipped in. That’s why when they come in contact with a lot of water, especially hot water, their colour fades.”
Naturally, this has prompted the shop to issue instructions for care and maintenance as they sell their carpets. Liaising with a cleaning company, they also offer regular cleaning and repair services for their customers.
Adding to all this, the fact that hand-made rugs often take up to years to be completed, makes their prices range higher than that of their machine-made counterparts.
“There is no rule for the hand-made ones, each one comes with its own price, story, and certificate. You can find a small piece going for Sh1 million, and a larger piece going for Sh100,000. It all depends on which city it came from, the patterns, how many people worked on it, and how long it took to be completed.”
For the machine-made ones, it is all about the thread count. The store only stocks the highest count, 1,200 which means their carpets cost between Sh40, 000 to Sh180,000, depending on size.
The competition
But has their business begun to feel the pinch in market share, with the influx of carpets into the Kenyan market as buyers increasingly import from cheaper sources such as China?
“Everything has its own market. The person who knows about the quality and uniqueness that an original Persian rug offers, of course knows which ones to buy.”
Ms Shahrabi cites the high shipping costs and heavy taxes as some of the major challenges of running a luxury carpet business in Kenya.
“We pay so much just to clear the carpets when they come in and that keeps prices going up. This makes things difficult for us because the way Nairobi is, we cannot increase our selling prices too frequently or we’ll lose our customers. Yet, we still have to pay our employees’ salaries and the rent,” she says. “Sometimes I wonder if the business is worth all the hassle.”
Photos of carpets on display at Persian Carpets store in Rosslyn Riviera Mall, Nairobi taken on of October 27, 2025.
Photo credit: Pool
Kings Carpets, a subsidiary of Kings Enterprises, also deals with imported carpets, but from Turkey.
“In terms of quality, Turkish carpets rank just below the Persian carpets,” says Edwin Mathenge, the owner.
Initially selling ‘3D’ carpets, Mr Mathenge decided to shift gears when the China-made options flooded the market. “We noticed that most of the buyers who came to us belonged to a higher class and were looking for quality. To serve them, we decided to deal in quality carpets.”
Having been in the carpet industry since October 2021, Mr Mathenge believes that while its market is unsteady, up one day and down the next, it has seen massive growth over the years.
“Carpets are a basic need now. Many sellers who want to shift and sell other things are ending up in the carpet business,” he says. “The government even realised that there is money there and introduced new taxes.”
Dealing with these taxes has been one of his biggest challenges, along with cases of theft and customers who fail to pay on time.
One of the most common mistakes he has seen customers make is choosing a carpet that doesn’t match the theme of their home or furniture.
Photos of carpets on display at Persian Carpets store in Rosslyn Riviera Mall, Nairobi taken on of October 27, 2025.
Photo credit: Pool
But he hopes artificial intelligence (AI) will help, especially those who do not want to hire interior designers.
“People can take photos of their rooms and receive AI suggestions on what decor pieces to add,” he says.
Cheaper carpets
Bernard Wainaina, is among those who source carpets from China and Turkey. His carpets range from between Sh9,000 and Sh11,000.
He says a good number of his customers choose their carpets based on their pockets rather than the quality of the floor-covering.
“For example, I have a carpet called ‘Crown’ which is of very good quality, but it no longer sells because it’s expensive. Instead, people prefer types like ‘3D’ and ‘American,’ which are much cheaper and sell very fast. Most high-class customers are also not comfortable with the busy atmosphere in Kamukunji market, so we mostly sell to other buyers.”
As one who has been selling carpets in both wholesale and retail for around nine years now, Mr Wainaina says that the Kenyan carpet market is not what it used to be. It’s become much tougher.
“You can’t compare it to four years ago when we used to religiously follow the product-supply chain. A product would move from the manufacturer, to the distributor, then to the retailer who would sell it to the customers,” he says.
“But nowadays, the Chinese manufacturers skip us as the distributors and sell directly to the retailers. This has cost me a lot of my customers.”
Another challenge has been the advent of e-commerce.
“It’s good and bad at the same time. I sell quite a bit online myself, but the challenge comes when a reseller whose shop is purely online, sells the same carpet at a much lower cost. This happens a lot since without rent expenses or employee salaries to pay, they’re chasing a much lower profit margin in comparison, but the customer won’t understand all this.”
