The Brasure family name has become synonymous over the past decades with lower Sussex County in a multitude of businesses, including auto repair and pest control. However, their carpet care business, started by David Brasure in Williamsville in 1983, has become one of their most established and successful ventures.
Coastal Point • RYAN SAXTON
Husband and wife Davide Brasure of Brasure Carpet Care and Peggy Brasure of Bayside Rug Co.
Recently, he has helped wife Peggy into the rug and carpet company with her own shot at retail. Five-month-old Bayside Rug Co., located in the Village of Fenwick and a division of Brasure’s Carpet Care, is making a name for itself as a Claire Murray Signature Boutique, specializing in a selection of hand-hooked rugs and home accessory designs.
Claire Murray, a New England artist, has been creating elegant, hand-woven rugs for 20 years, and her endeavor to expand to boutiques is catching on quickly.
“She’s bringing back the Nantucket style of rug-making,” explained Peggy Brasure.
Opening Bayside Rug Co. this past Fourth of July was a simple transition for Peggy, whose husband first began cleaning rugs and carpets in 1983. Brasure’s Carpet Care began as an on-location service before expanding to in-plant cleaning.
“I prefer working with the clean rugs,” Peggy Brasure said with a laugh. “If I had to lift rugs, I’d rather lift the clean ones.”
“I get the dirty ones, and she gets the clean ones,” her husband replied.
The joint company with Claire Murray resulted from both Brasure’s experience in cleaning and care and Peggy’s desire to return to retail after previously working in sales of men’s clothing.
“I’ve always loved retail,” she said, “and it was my dream to get back into it.”
Recently, Peggy Brasure completed her certification as a rug specialist, a certification that only 50 people throughout the country hold today. David Brasure was the eighth such person certified in the U.S.
Claire Murray’s works run the gamut when it comes to designs, from nautical and beach scenes, and a specialty in mermaids, to holiday, floral and animal patterns. Sizes of the rugs range from 2-by-3 feet up to 9-by-12 feet.
“If you need anything bigger than that,” said Peggy Brasure, “she would probably do it for you. They do custom rugs, as well, for both designs and sizes,” she explained.
Murray often works in series, including one of her most recent rugs, detailing seashells.
“They work well with collections,” said Peggy Brasure. “They can all mingle and you can work them together.” The process of producing a new rug can run two or three months.
“A lot of people come in here with something in mind,” said Peggy Brasure, “but they get here and see something they like.” The rugs can be the perfect accent to a kitchen, bathroom, dining room, or anywhere else throughout the home.
The business’ expansion this summer provided Peggy Brasure with more space for the rugs, which she sold for nearly a year out of a display area at Brasure’s Carpet Care.
“[The hand-hooked rug boutique] is a new concept for Murray,” noted Peggy Brasure. “We happened to be on vacation in Nantucket and saw a store full of these rugs.”
Peggy Brasure began ordering the rugs regularly – so often, in fact, that Murray herself contacted the couple and proposed the idea of a joint company.
“It was really something big to actually get a call from Claire Murray herself,” said David Brasure.
Cleaning rugs and carpets have become second nature to David, and hand-hooked rugs are no exception. “These are easy to clean,” he said, “especially since we have a rug cleaning plant.”
Brasure’s plant, along Lighthouse Road in Williamsville, is one of two plants in the entire state that offer such service, with the other in Wilmington.
In addition to an abundance of rugs, Bayside Rug Co. offers other fine arts by Murray, from assorted stationary to silk scarves. Peggy Brasure said she feels comfortable in the expanded business now and is happy to be combining two loves.
“It’s a lot of fun,” she said, “and the rugs are very popular throughout this area. You get to know people. We’re as local as you can get.”
Bayside Rug Co., located in the Village of Fenwick in Fenwick Island, is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Sunday through Friday, and 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. on Saturdays, with second-season hours running at least through the Christmas holiday.
Hours are subject to change further into the winter, so for more information, call (302) 537-1377 or visit their Web site at www.baysiderugco.com.