Tufenkian Imports

A Heritage of Heart and Hand

The Tufenkian brand has become the standard for the finest in contemporary design, craftsmanship and raw materials while using a unique business model to dramatically improve the lives of those in need.

Founded in 1986 by entrepreneur James Tufenkian, Tufenkian Artisan carpets established three goals for all of its endeavors:

1. Make beautiful things of enduring value
2. Make a profit from selling them
3. Use that profit and the employment provided to enrich the lives of workers and their communities.

Using this model, Tufenkian created and defined the category of Tibetan carpets while revolutionizing the handmade carpet industry itself. In 1993, Tufenkian revitalized Armenia's dormant carpet weaving craft, restoring a centuries-old tradition to a recovering nation.

From the beginning, James Tufenkian and his partners in Nepal and Armenia have worked diligently to ensure that no one under the age of 18 ever works to produce any products bearing the Tufenkian name. In fact, the company has gone far beyond that to guarantee that the children of Tufenkian craftspeople and workers are cared for.

Among the steps the company has taken to improve the lives of over 4,000 workers and their communities, Tufenkian has provided food, comfortable housing, a medical facility, a Montessori school, Nepal's first water purification and waste treatment facility and planted acres of gardens and trees in Nepal and Armenia. For more information about Tufenkian's humanitarian efforts, please see the A Sense Of Humanity section. To learn about Tufenkian's commitment to the environment, please read the Our Environment section.

Central to Tufenkian's business philosophy is "Necessarily Ethical Economic Development", or N.E.E.D. Whether it be providing employment for those in a redeveloping nation or providing housing, schooling and medical facilities for its workers and their community, Tufenkian uses proceeds from its businesses, in the words of James Tufenkian, " to leave the places we touch a little better than we found them."