To encourage them to be first-time buyers of the rugs, runners, kelims, saddle bags and all manner of textile delights with which he regularly stocks the marquee, Mr North, who claims the largest stock of old rugs in the South of England, is putting on a budget section.
Everything marked with a red label will be part of what he calls a 'Special Country House Collection' of rugs all priced at less than £200, such as this antique Caucasian Derbend prayer rug, right, priced at £195.
There will, of course, be plenty on offer at higher prices.
Laying down a strategy
LONG a convert to selling shows, Kent rug dealer Desmond North holds another of his regular marquee sales in the grounds of his home, The Orchard, Hale Street, East Peckham, near Tonbridge, on the weekend of October 5 and 6. But even in specialised worlds the market has to be pursued and Mr North, who says he is baffled by what new homeowners use for decoration and furnishings in their ever-more valuable properties, is aiming at this area.
