Our Rugs

All of our rugs are hand picked by Jerry, himself. He travels to India, Pakistan, Turkey, and many other nations to find the finest rugs available.

Jerry buying old kilims in Diyarbakir, eastern Turkey

Company History

A passion for Oriental rugs resulting from a high school warehouse job with a rug company, combined with an interest in travel, led Jerry Sorkin to start J.M. SORKIN back in 1985. With years of experience working for others in the rug trade, while pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in Middle East studies and international business at the University of Pennsylvania, Sorkin eventually chose to go off on his own. In 1985, he started J.M. SORKIN in classic entrepreneurial style, with credit card advances and lots of hard work.

Jerry in Turkey: market day in a central Anatolian town

Today, J.M. SORKIN is located on Lancaster Avenue in the heart of Wayne, Pennsylvania, along Philadelphia's Main Line, represents the firm's continued growth. In an industry where rug dealers seem to be perpetually going out of business, retiring or holding another of their ongoing and rather dubious 60-70% off sales, J.M. SORKIN just keeps growing! As does the reputation.

Over the years, J.M. SORKIN and founder Jerry Sorkin have been referred to in media as diverse as U.S. News & World Report, Architectural Digest, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, as well as many other local and national media. Sorkin finds himself a frequent lecturer, with engagements in the last year alone, including the University of Pennsylvania's College of General Studies, The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, the Wharton School's entrepreneurial studies program, as well as a UNESCO conference held in Tunisia, to name but a few.

Jerry in Pakistan, with Afghan weavers of J. M. Sorkin's natural dyed "antiqued" collection.

Staff

You will find the entire staff at J.M. Sorkin part of the personal environment that makes visiting the showroom a wonderful experience. Some employees have been with Jerry since his early beginnings, two were former clients of J.M. Sorkin and all are believers that service and educating consumers are two of the most important goals of J.M. Sorkin.

© Copyright 2002 J. M. Sorkin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.