Nationwide -- Meet Audrey Bell-Kearney, founder of The Rug Chest, the newest Black woman-owned area rug company in the country. An entrepreneur of 23 years, Audrey says that she was inspired to start this particular venture when she came up with the idea to produce a special line of Madam CJ Walker dolls. During that time, she was already producing plus-size fashion dolls with her friend, Georgette. While searching for toy manufacturers in China, she unexpectedly came across a rug manufacturer and it hit her: "Why not start an area rug company?"
However, what started as an idea to print images of Madam CJ Walker on a rug has already become much more than just that. After starting the company Audrey realized that she could work with artists who are looking for more outlets to sell their work. This partnership will give Audrey the opportunity to keep new and unique kitchen rugs coming out. Some of those will be limited edition rugs while others will have no limits.
What Audrey learned from her time in the doll world was that people loved to own limited edition collectibles, so she is transferring that knowledge over to The Rug Chest.
