Meet Gerald Gerami, owner of Rug Gallery by Gerami’s, who has followed in the entrepreneurial footsteps of his late grandfather, Joseph Patrick Gerami, who opened his first retail establishment in Lafayette in 1920.

Gerald Gerami sat down with Jan Swift, host of Discover Lafayette, to share his experience as a successful vendor who has survived the ups and downs of the marketplace in Lafayette. This interview is full of nuggets of wisdom from someone who jumped out of his comfort zone, believed in his ability to meet the needs of his community, and took the risk of opening his own retail establishment.

The original Gerami family business was started by Joseph Patrick Gerami who had immigrated to the United States from Sicily and settled in Lafayette after he returned from WWI. Gerami's opened first as a furniture market in 1920 with the financial assistance of the iconic businessman, Maurice Heymann, who believed in investing in solid business people who could use a helping hand. Although Joseph Gerami was originally a furniture craftsman, his retail operation evolved into the opening of a second store offering flooring. This store is still open today on Jefferson Blvd. in downtown Lafayette, some 100 years after it was first opened by Joseph Gerami, and is run by his grandsons Gary and Greg Gerami.

Members of the Gerami family: Glenn, Greg, Gerald Sr., Gary, and Gerald Jr.

Gerald Gerami, Jr. had been influenced by his maternal grandfather, L. D. "Dudley" Foreman, who was a longtime banker at First National Bank in Lafayette. Post-college, Gerald first went into banking as a young man and then in the late 1980s was courted by his college buddy, Don Hargroder of Courtesy Automotive, to go into auto sales.

After about 10 years in the auto business, Gerald was ready to open his own business and decided to return his family's retail roots with a twist: he decided there was a good opportunity in Lafayette to open a stand-alone rug location which could offer complementary pieces to the flooring options his family was selling. The original Gerami's Flooring store didn't have the room to offer an expanded selection of area rugs, and the natural synergy between the two stores could be utilized to enhance the business of both.

In 1998, Gerald Gerami, Jr. opened Rug Gallery by Gerami’s to meet a needed niche in Lafayette’s retail market as homeowners increasingly installed hard flooring and decorative rugs were becoming more popular. The timing was good and the original location in Time Plaza on Johnston St. was a high traffic locale with a convenient location across town from the original Gerami's. In 2014, Gerald moved his store to its current location at 105 Englewood Drive, facing the busy Ambassador Caffrey corridor and allowing him to roughly double his showroom space.

In 2014, Gerald moved his store to its current location at 105 Englewood Dr., Lafayette LA.

Gerami's clientele is mainly women who make the home decorating selections. The store's experienced manager, Monica Cagle, has worked with Gerald since its inception. Gerald's wife, Carla, while not full-time, travels to market to help with the selection of the rug and accessories inventory, and with day to day decisions.

Gerald and Carla Gerami with Alex Pekar at a rug market in Atlanta.

Many people think that Gerami's only offers rugs, and expensive Oriental rugs at that, but the store offers rugs in all price brackets as well as accessories to complement your home decor. Its staff will help you select the appropriate rug and accessories and you have the opportunity to take the merchandise home to see if it works with your existing decor before committing to the purchase.