Fort Lee, N.J.—As Couristan approaches its 100-year anniversary in 2026, the third generation of this family-owned business is becoming more involved in the future success of the company. But Georgia Couri is unlike prior Couri family members: She is a young female.
Georgia has come a long way from playing on piles of rugs as a child in the Couristan office. But she always knew that she may someday carry on the Couri legacy. It’s why she studied international business and management at Fairfield University, eventually earning her MBA in management. That, coupled with her involvement in her mom’s two organizations in Haiti that support women, gained her valuable insight into female entrepreneurship.
Georgia officially joined Couristan four years ago as the country was coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. “My dad [George Couri, CEO], one day said, ‘Just come work at the company. You can still apply for other jobs, just do this for now.’ So it started as a ‘for-now’ type of thing. And as time went on, I actually started enjoying it and now I’m obsessed with it.”
She began her career working on the marketing side, particularly social media. Two years later, she became involved in product development for the company’s area rug division. “That was something I wanted to do for a while because in my mind our hospitality and broadloom are very high end, but our rugs targeted a completely different customer base, so we wanted to make it a little more cohesive,” she said.
Officially associate director of business development, today Georgia has a hand in all facets of the company. “I still do product development for broadloom and rugs. I do a lot of events for hospitality. In fact, I’ve been trying to insert myself more and more into hospitality. I still have a hand in marketing, advertising and social media. And I am included in executive meetings.”
A fresh perspective
As a younger female, let alone the first female Couri to enter the business, Georgia brings a different perspective than prior leadership. “Women are usually the ones who are picking the rugs and carpet for the house,” she said. “I definitely bring a different perspective, specifically in color. We came out with many great new colors this year at Surfaces. I was involved in that. One of our most colorful new collections is Hyde Village. I worked on that for six months picking out colors, getting samples, reworking it, doing the design. Based upon that collection’s success, I’ll do more. I think being a young female helps on the social media side, the product development side and on the marketing side. It’s definitely a fresh perspective.”
Len Andolino, the current president, has taken Georgia under his wing and said he has witnessed her ability and growth. He refers to Georgia as “smart, fearless, humble and willing to learn. George thinks we’re teaching her, but she’s teaching us,” he said.
What is Georgia teaching the old guard? “Len will often tell me I see things differently,” she said. “And I’ll hear, ‘Oh, that’s how we’ve always done it.’ I hate that answer. And I’ll say, ‘But why? Why can’t we do it this way?’ ‘Well, we haven’t.’ ‘But why not? What if we did?’ I question everything, which may get annoying sometimes, but I’m never going to stop asking questions. I think it brings a lot to the table creatively.”
While Georgia may question everything, she admittedly is learning something every day, particularly with product development. “Previously, we would want to test out products and get feedback instead of being more concrete in going forward with something,” she explained. “Len taught me that makes us look like we don’t know what we’re doing. We’re supposed to know our own products and what is on trend. I look at product development and trade shows completely different now because of that. Len has also taught me a lot about design. He’s a wizard with product development with broadloom. He’s taught me a lot about what sells. Even if it’s not your taste, it doesn’t matter.”
George Couri acknowledged the Couris have been a male-oriented family for 100 years, so this is a big change for the company. “Georgia provides continuity,” he said. “This is not a business you learn overnight. She brings youth, personality and good business sense. She has an MBA, which I hope she can utilize.”
Carrying on the legacy
Despite her youth, Georgia has a keen understanding of the company’s strengths, its positioning in the market, what it can do better and the legacy she is now a part of. “I think our first strength is the people,” she said. “There is longevity. The people here are a family. It’s a culture that was instilled by my uncle. The second strength is our hospitality business. We’re definitely a power player in hospitality carpet. We have an amazing design team on the hospitality side. I think also we focus on the decorative part of it. And we focus entirely on soft surface; we don’t go into hard surface because it’s just not our thing. Lastly, sourcing. We have great relationships with our suppliers. We try to make it more of a partnership.”
Other strengths she hears from customers are Couristan’s inventory position, customer service and quality. “We do not cut corners with quality, even if it means it has to be at a higher price,” she said. “Because if you want quality, you pay for quality.”
Her youth serves Couristan well as it relates to design and what tomorrow’s customer may be seeking. “There’s one collection we have had in our area rug line for 60 years, but it still sells,” Georgia said. “It’s traditional. But my generation is not really buying that. Younger people are still interested in traditional, but they want a new take on it. So we’ve been coming out with some traditional hand-knotted designs, but they have fresh, brighter, fun colors. Desi is an example of that. Some designs needed updating on both the area rug and broadloom sides to make them appeal to a younger customer, and now we’re in that process.”
As examples, she cited a pair of collections, Elysian and Utopia, that are traditional designs in new bright, fun colors. “It’s important that Couristan stays current, that we are on trend.”
Georgia said she believes “fun” is something that resonates with the younger generations, especially because they are more apt to redecorate more frequently. “I think the older generation, 30, 40 years ago, bought a rug to keep for 40 years,” she said. “So they didn’t take big risks. It was the more traditional Persian designs. I think my generation wants a rug for a few years and then will switch it up, maybe change the wall color, maybe change something else. It gets a lot more adventurous that way, so we can come out with a lot more adventurous designs and collections.”
At the end of the day, Georgia said she does not take Courstan’s legacy lightly. In fact, she wants to shout from the mountain top that Couristan has been owned and operated by the same family for 99 years. “I would love for people to know our rich history. Family is a huge part of this company. I’ve heard some customers say, ‘I love your story.’ A lot of our customers are family-owned businesses as well, so they connect with that. People want to hear the story, they can relate to it. And I hope that when people meet or read about me, they see my drive and passion.”
Equally important, she wants to validate her dad’s decision to bring her into the business and put her on the path. “I’ve always wanted to impress my father and make him proud,” she said. “I’m trying to learn everything I can from him, especially because I know his reputation in the industry is that he’s brilliant.”
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