La Jolla staple Taba Rug Gallery still showing its chops after 40 years

For four decades, Taba Tabaee’s rug store has been a steady presence on Girard Avenue in La Jolla. But behind the curtain — or in this case, the rug — Tabaee’s story is far from conventional.

Before Tabaee became a partner in the store, Taba Rug Gallery at 7848 Girard, he was a gold medalist in karate, an instructor on multiple continents and, for a time, a singer for a Persian music group.

Though his days of karate competition are in the rearview mirror, his discipline and passion for training persists. And on Thursday, Aug. 28, he will celebrate the store’s 40th anniversary.

Tabaee still operates the shop every day and teaches private karate lessons on the side. His sons, Yasin and Matin, are in college and high school, respectively. The former is studying mechanical engineering, while the latter is fully immersed in lacrosse.

“I am 67 years old,” Tabaee said. “I don’t want to finish my life running on a Stairmaster and just go visit places. Because of all these championships and business, I already visited 54 countries when I was younger.

“As long as God gives me health, I would like to be in this business. … [At] 90 years old, you’ll see me here. [At] 95, you’ll see me here if I’m supposed to stay.”

In the meantime, Tabaee said he appreciates the many connections he’s made with customers along the way.

“I like to just enjoy people, because you cannot believe how many beautiful people I meet in my shop — rich, middle class and poor,” Tabaee said. “So why should I give it up?”

Life before rugs

Tabaee’s story traces back to Tehran, Iran, where he grew up as the fourth of nine children in his family. By the time he turned 15, he was working as a receptionist for a cab service, attending English school and learning karate every day. His father worked for a rug gallery.

Around that time, Tabaee also got involved in sports ranging from handball to basketball. Above all else, however, he felt karate in his bones.

“Karate was always there and is always there,” Tabaee said. “It’s an art and it is like a language. As soon as you let it go for one year, your body doesn’t want to cooperate as before.”

His hard work paid off, as he was selected for Iran’s national karate team when he was 16, 17 and 18. With three gold medals under his belt, he opened his own dojo and brought in enough money to make his first big purchase — a Buick.

His competing days didn’t end there, as he moved to Germany and earned three more gold medals.

But his eyes were on the United States.

After a brief stint in Connecticut teaching and working at a rug gallery, Tabaee moved across the country to Coronado. When his friend Naseer Servati took him to what he described as “paradise,” Tabaee became acquainted with La Jolla.

Thanks to his friend’s connections, Tabaee became a partner in the Girard Avenue rug store with Javid Nazarian and Adi Pourfard. The partnership remained for 15 years before Nazarian stepped away to be with his family. A decade later, Pourfard branched off to Aja Rugs at 955 Prospect St. and Tabaee became the namesake of the Girard Avenue store.

“A lot of people ask me, ‘Hey Taba, aren’t you uncomfortable with so many rug stores here?’” Tabaee said. “I said, ‘There are a lot of black belts, but who is the champion?’”

Also, he said, “my dad always said, ‘When it rains, everybody’s roof should get wet.’”

Rolling with the changes

A lot has changed in La Jolla since the rug gallery opened, Tabaee says. Stores around him have come and gone, but most notably the clientele has expanded in ways that only those of decades-old businesses can.

Some of his karate students are now his customers. And a second generation of clients have followed in their parents’ footsteps to become regulars. Tabaee says such long-standing relationships have been key to his success.

“In sales, especially to sell rugs, it is not like buying a shirt [where] you wear it, look at yourself and go,” Tabaee said. “You have to spend hours and give all your knowledge about that particular rug that they are looking for.”

Tabaee said he sees an opportunity to really get to know his customers and let them know about him, too. Those conversations also can point them to the right product — whether it’s made by hand or machine, with chemical or vegetable dye or produced locally or outsourced.

“You have to always put yourself next to the buyer to shop with them,” Tabaee continued. “As long as you respect people’s wealth, people’s happiness and people’s family, you’re in. They keep you here.”

Karate has influenced how he goes about his business, too.

“These [former students], they have children and are men now,” Tabaee said. “They are all passing by and they come to the shop to say hi. … When they come in, I am embarrassed to have a bigger belly or [be] out of shape.

“And psychologically, I am addicted to [the] sport.”