AtlantaMart’s Chas Sydney, right, with Karastan’s Bill Storey and Anne Carley.

ATLANTA—More than 1,300 retailer and exhibitor customers were in attendance for the Atlanta International Area Rug Market’s annual America’s Magnificent Carpets (AMC) Awards.

Considered the Academy Awards of the rug sector by many, this year’s ceremony saw a sellout crowd gather in the Grand Ballroom of the Marriot Marquis to partake in the festivities and honor the winners.

For the fourth straight year, Architectural Digest sponsored the event which awards companies on their latest rug designs that were introduced at the January market. Rugs are judged in categories based primarily on price point.

America’s Magnificent Carpets Awards winners were:

• Handmade—Rugs America (up to $12 per square foot), Capa Imports ($12.01 to $23 per square foot), F.J. Kashanian ($23.01 to $35 per square foot and $35.01 to $46 per square foot), French Accents ($46.01 to $56 per square foot), Smyrna Trading ($56.01 to $65 per square foot) and Obeetee ($65.01 and up per square foot).

• Power-Loomed—Marsella Fine Rugs (up to $200), Couristan ($201 to $400 and $400 to $1,000) and Karastan ($1,000 and up)

• Antique—Chaman

• Best Contemporary Design—Mat the Basics

• Best Rug by Retailer Vote/Buyer’s Choice—Anadol

Along with America’s Magnificent Carpets Awards, the industry honored advanced showrooms with the “increasingly recognized” Visual Display Awards Program. Chas Sydney, senior vice president of floor coverings for AmericasMart, owner of the rug market, said this award recognizes and celebrates various companies’ “astonishing visual merchandising innovations on each floor of the show.”

This year’s winners were:

Karastan, Safavieh, Marsella Fine Rugs and Shaw Living.