Hand-knotted Persian and Oriental rugs in Madison, Wisconsin — since 1972
From a family of rug people in Iran to a shop in Madison
Albert Borokhim was born in Iran into a family whose history in the rug trade goes back generations. He came to the United States more than fifty years ago to study engineering at the University of Wisconsin, fell in love with Madison, and never left. In 1972 he opened a small rug store on Monroe Street. It is still there, and he is still in it most days.
Albert likes to say that a hand-knotted rug is “the art under your feet”: each one took a weaver months, sometimes a year, and will outlast the furniture around it by decades. That is why everything in the showroom is hand-knotted — no machine-made rugs, no printed designs — and why he still buys personally, with purchasing agents in Iran who source pieces to match what Madison customers ask for.
What you’ll find on the floor
Our specialty is the Bijar — the dense, heavy “iron rug of Persia” woven by Kurdish weavers in western Iran — and we carry one of the largest selections of Bijar rugs in the United States. Around it are the great Persian weaving traditions and their neighbours, in sizes from small scatter rugs and runners to room-size and palace-size pieces, new weavings alongside antique and vintage rugs.
Every rug in the store has been inspected by Albert and, where needed, cleaned and repaired in our own workshop before it goes on the floor.
More than a store
Rug cleaning
Hand-knotted rugs should be washed, not steam-cleaned. We clean rugs of every origin and size, including pieces bought elsewhere.
Repair & restoration
Worn ends, frayed sides, moth damage and holes — our workshop has repaired rugs for Madison families for decades.
Written appraisals
For insurance, estates or resale, Albert provides written appraisals drawn on fifty years in the trade.
Rugs on approval
Madison-area customers can take a rug home and see it in their own light before deciding. Nothing replaces seeing a rug in the room it will live in.
Most of our rugs leave Wisconsin
Many of our customers are far from Madison. Every rug on this website is photographed in the showroom, and we are glad to send additional photographs, measurements and details of any piece, and to talk through the choice by phone. We ship throughout the United States. Prices are quoted individually — click Request Price on any rug, or call us.
1801 Monroe Street, Madison
Borokhim’s Oriental Rugs
1801 Monroe Street
Madison, WI 53711
Monday – Saturday: 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday: closed
Phone: (608) 257-2222
Finding the shop
The showroom is on Monroe Street in the Vilas neighborhood, a few minutes from the UW campus and Camp Randall. Parking is on the street.
Come in, walk on the rugs, and ask Albert anything — that is how it has worked for fifty years.