Paul Ramsey: magical carpet importer.

• Author: Bronikowski, Lynn
• Position: Executive Edge - Shaver-Ramsey

Paul Ramsey laughs when customers jokingly ask if he has any magic carpets among his multi-million dollar inventory of hand-woven rugs at Shaver-Ramsey, the rug importer he co-founded nearly three decades ago in Denver's Cherry Creek North.

"Then I'll show them some really cool rug," says Ramsey. "They'll see the way the texture plays with the color and see that its beauty really does take you somewhere when you glimpse at it for even a few seconds. And that is magic."

Ramsey, who imports rugs from around the world that retail from $500 to $85,000, with the average price $2,500, was recently named "Rug Retailer of the Year," a prestigious award from industry peers. It was the first time a Colorado retailer has ever won the designation.

"I've learned a lot about rugs going to conferences, speaking at conferences and as a founding member of the American Conference on Oriental Rugs," said Ramsey, who is widely known as a specialist in the oriental rugs and weavings of Turkey, Iran, the Caucasus and Afghanistan. He has loaned one of his Afghan rugs to an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., has taught courses about rugs at the Denver Art Museum and has served as a consultant to the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha.

Yet he still remembers writing up his first sales receipt in Shaver-Ramsey's fledgling days. "It was for some antique Chinese tiles I sold for $2,400. My hand was just shaking."

Since those early days in Cherry Creek North when gas stations and a Bohemian atmosphere were more common than nightspots and trendy restaurants, Ramsey has seen sales grow 15 percent annually, now reaching into the millions of dollars. He's sold rugs to...