Carpet shop rolls up after 20 years

After 20 years at the same address, Oriental Carpets in Wyndham Street is having its first sale. Then, the iconic shop will fold up its 3,000 carpets and shut its doors.

One of the first carpet retailers to open in what later became the focal point for the trade in fine rugs and carpets, the shop has to close because its lease has run out.

The building at 41 Wyndham Street has been sold and the new landlord plans to refurbish it. All tenants are moving out.

'I've spent all my working life here,' says Rizwan Butt, who began helping his father, Sabih, on the premises when he was a teenager.

'One worry is that loyal customers who drop in to browse around our stock will not know where we have moved.'

Even the Butts do not yet know where they will next unroll their collection of woollen tribal rugs and exquisite silk carpets. Stock comes from remote communities in Iraq and Iran, from Afghanistan, Pakistan and western China.

'When you buy a rug, you not only get something to cover your floor but a piece of culture and history,' Rizwan Butt enthuses. 'Every carpet is individual. Each design and motif tells a story.'