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Press Release
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Claremont Rug Company An Interview with Global Art Dealer Jan David Winitz 
Jan David Winitz, Founder and President of Claremont Rug Company Over the past 43 years, Jan David Winitz, founder and president of Claremont Rug Company, has built a global business from a base that initially served only a small number of clients in Northern California. How he developed a company that now places art-level antique Oriental rugs with clients in over 50 countries on a six continents is the product of thoroughly knowing his market, intimately understanding the needs of his client base, and concentrating his efforts on what makes his business a rich resource for those he serves. Winitz believes strongly that his underlying business philosophy crosses industry lines and aptly applies to broad consumer marketing segments. As he says, "what you leverage for leadership in your business should set you apart from other in your field. In our case, it is having built a highly curated inventory and purposefully developing ongoing relationships, both with our clients and with a network of contacts who provide us access to an extremely valuable and increasingly rarely-found art item." He points out that, for the most part, other galleries and global auction houses can no longer offer connoisseurs the best rugs in extremely good condition woven during the "Second Golden Age of Persian Weaving," ca. 1800 to ca. 1900 that remain in extremely good condition. So limited is the availability of top-tier rugs from this period that Claremont is now developing a dedicated clientele in Asia and the Middle East, along with its longtime following in the Americas, Europe, and Australia. Recently, Winitz sat down with us to discuss how he continues to build on his success in a question-and-answer session. How do you describe your business and your client base? We provide elite 19th-century rugs that, in addition to being elite home furnishings, serve as art investments to ultra-high-net-worth clients. We act as “trusted advisers” and spend a tremendous amount of time providing our clients with educational material and access to our knowledge to help guide their acquisitions. What are the most critical factors that have determined your success? At a fundamental level, I have always believed in hiring staff members who have an affinity for beauty, a strong willingness to learn, and a general passion for life. In that sense, we are old-fashioned. Because our communication with clients is educational in nature, it is essential that we train our staff fully and on an ongoing basis and create in them a passion for the art form we are representing. As time is a tremendously valuable commodity for our clientele, rather than have voicemail during business hours, every call is answered by a highly trained staff member with a college degree and much experience with our product. We call this approach ‘Client First.’ 
Persian Bakshaish Camelhair | 12' 0" x 13' 11" | circa 1850 | High-Collectible
Persian Tehran "Garden Rug" | 4' 7" x 6' 9" | circa 1900 | Connoisseur-Calibe I hope this won’t sound immodest. I am gratified that we have helped many clients build extensive, important collections of rare rugs that are the equivalent of investment portfolios. We have numerous clients who have invested many millions of dollars in our antique rugs. These are folks who want to deal with a long-term adviser rather than someone simply who wishes to sell a product. For instance, our website is replete with educational materials we have created that cannot be found elsewhere. In this way, we feel that we have been impactful in raising the recognition of the historical and artistic value of antique Oriental rugs among art collectors. Our success is based on fundamental principles that are all too often misapplied or disregarded by those who work with an elite clientele. Our approach has always been, what author Malcolm Gladwell describes as “the outlier.” The conventional approach in our industry to building business has, for the most part, been “transactional.” However, our success is very much promoted by our reputation and offering exemplary service. Our one location (Oakland, CA) is not situated in an arts/antiques enclave, nor do we participate in off-site events. Yet, we have sold more 19th-century art-level antique rugs annually in the last 15 years than all the world's leading auction houses combined. We adhere to our principles because they work. We understand our market, we know our clients, and most of all, we are committed to helping them to acquire rugs that are both profoundly inspiring artworks and sound investments. As a result, I spend nearly as much time sourcing rugs as I do selling them. Having spent my over a 40-year business career in this collecting niche, I am tremendously gratified to receive continual feedback from clients about how much they enjoy the pieces they acquire from us. You have spoken of the rugs in your inventory. Can you provide a general description of what they are and why clients are attracted to them? The rugs are both rare art and precious tangible assets, the vast majority of which are valued in the $10,000 to more than $500,000 range. Many clients start by buying rugs to furnish spaces in their homes, but they become more and more inspired by the incredible beauty and artistic virtue of their pieces and wish to surround themselves with them. Our clients have come to recognize that there are precious few pieces of this magnitude available and that they are irreplaceable as investments and great artworks. 
Caucasian Baku | 3' 11" x 5' 1" | circa 1850 | High-Collectible What lessons have you learned and how do you think your success can be applied in the broader business world? Don’t hesitate to embrace old-school commonsense business practices while also adopting advanced technology as a means to increase client satisfaction and gain industry leadership. In our case, we have a well-trained, extremely enthusiastic staff, many of whom have been with us for two to four decades. Our client, John Warnock, then the CEO of Adobe Systems, guided us to build our first website in 1990, and we have redesigned it multiple times since then to continually update the user experience and the site’s SEO capabilities to reach an ever-widening audience. We have an ethos that our clients and staff embrace because it is genuine and heartfelt. I enjoy my work immensely; my staff members are hardworking and impassioned, and our clients embrace what we provide them. All in all, Claremont Rug Company is a 43-year-long labor of love. “At a fundamental level, I believe in hiring staff members with an affinity for beauty, a strong willingness to learn, and a general passion for life.” |