Our Story

We begin our story in Palestine in 1918 with two brothers, Joseph Eways the older brother and Salem M. Eways the younger. They started selling textiles and began their business of cleaning rugs in Palestine in 1918. They needed more…as Christian Palestinians, they fled that life in search of a more Christian and peaceful balance of life for their families in the United States. They were on a quest to come to the United States in search of the American Dream. They came to New York City in the early 1920’s and soon found themselves in Pennsylvania selling rugs, cleaning and maintaining them. The business soon grew and eventually they had four stores throughout the Reading, Harrisonburg, and surrounding areas. They maintained rugs for Milton Hershey (Hershey’s Chocolate) and many other high society clienteles.

My Grandfather has a son Terry, who went to the University of Virginia, and my grandfather came to Charlottesville to visit; well, he never left. He came to Charlottesville in the 1960’s and had a storefront in University shopping center. This is where a new era was born. He soon passed away from cancer in 1965, and my father, Frank S. Eways, came down from Pennsylvania to take over the family business. Frank was a Pennsylvania State Trooper at the time and loved his work, but family is most important, and his mother needed him. He began to remember the days of working in the shop as a young boy and growing up helping his father, now he was working to provide for his own family. He traveled the U.S. introducing himself to rug merchants and began to make a name for himself. The business grew rapidly and soon he convinced his brothers to join him and they built a wonderful family business.

My father Frank was very passionate about the business. He became very well known and helped to grow the Oriental Rug Retailer’s Association (ORRA) and was president for two terms. He was inducted into the ORRA hall of fame in 1985.

Today, Eways Rugs is the region’s premier rug showroom, offering only the finest quality area rugs in the industry! A third-generation rug merchant, Frank S. Eways, Jr. is continuing the legacy set forth by his grandfather and father. We know rugs! We have been hand washing rugs and maintaining them for over a century! Frank Jr. has been cleaning rugs since he was a young boy when he would travel with his dad on business. He would work on weekends and after school to help and learned at an early age that this business is very demanding physically, yet very rewarding. This truly is “Art Underfoot”. Frank Jr. is the only ORRA rug certified appraiser in the region…. really, he is the only certified appraiser from Maryland to North Carolina!

We are a specialty showroom because we know rugs and that is what we do best. Other places add other inventory and are one-stop shops, that is not who we are. My Grandfather believed in being the best at one thing and this is it!