I was intimidated to walk in the store...

Since I'm the queen of trying to score a good deal, I often find myself intimidated to even walk in certain stores. If I judge the book by its cover and it doesn't look like it has a great sale section, then I simply don't go in. Why temp yourself right?

Last week I happened to notice a giant 80% off sign in a local rug store and immediately it was on my radar. This is one of those stores I typically avoid. It looked uppity and I was not wanting to deal with a high pressure salesman, but 80% off...

{Shabahang Empire Rugs}

Just to show you what I'm talking about, here's the image from the store's homepage. Fancy. Totally looks like a place I'd shop, right? If you know me at all, you're saying "Yeah right, Dana!"

Anyway, I put my best defenses up and walked right into the store ready to see the 80% off steals. Ah, man, it's totally one of those places where the guys work their tails off lugging these super heavy rugs back and forth then you feel so guilty that you've given them their workout for the week that you're not sure what to do! 

{available here}

Well, as I was helping build Ben's biceps (he's the owner) we began to chat. It turns out he's a ridiculously nice man who has a passion for selling rugs, good rugs. My defenses began to fall. Okay, yes, you can put that one into my car.  What?! It's not 80% off?! Wouldn't you know it, I fell for the trick! The 'ole bait and switch. 

Well, that's not entirely true. He never made me think the rug was 80% off, he was great at asking my price range, what I was looking for, then only showed me the ones I could afford. He didn't try to up-sale me once! No pressure at all.

So, the rug came to live in my dining room for a few days while I gave it a test run...

Then I decided it was time for the walk of shame back into the store for me to totally offend Ben and tell him I didn't like his rug. Okay, so that's not really how it went down. I returned the rug, told him how it's beautiful but not the one I have my heart set on. He questioned me further and I shared my sob story about seeing "the one" on craigslist, deciding to wait on it because it was Christmas time and I needed to buy presents instead of rugs. Then I promptly preceded to lose the guy's phone number and can't find the listing anymore. Darn!

The owner then shocked me by telling me he knew exactly who I was talking about (the CL seller), pulled out his phone and called the guy! Yes, he was calling his competitor for me to see if the rug was still available. Who does that?!

Well, I'd love to tell you that this story has a happy rug ending but it doesn't. "The" rug was/is still available but my frugal side kicked in before I actually made it to his house. I realized I was so wrapped up in "the look" that I was about to spend far more than I should and even though it's a high quality rug, it just doesn't make sense for me to buy at this time.

So, the moral of my story is very cliche...don't judge a book by its cover. Go ahead and walk into that store that looks intimidating. You never know what or who you may meet or find. I guarantee you I will be returning to Ben's store and hope to bring him lots of business through local clients. All because of some random kindness he was willing to shower down unexpectedly.

Look below at what Ben has to offer in his beautiful store. I, once again, made the wrong assumption and thought he only sold very traditional rugs. But, oh no, since I was brave enough to walk through the doors I quickly learned there are some contemporary beauties mixed in as well.

If you live in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area, make sure you put Shabahang Empire Rugs on your list of stores to visit. And, when you go, make sure you tell him Dana sent you!