Beyond the web, they’re stocked worldwide in 70-plus shops, from Los Angeles to London to Hong Kong, including 13 Supreme stores. Screen-printed by hand in Baltimore, the skateboards still come in small batches. It’s a labor-intensive undertaking, and their admitted loss leader, but core to the Carpet identity. For the rest of the lineup—finally including jeans, as well as jackets, bags, boxers, and anything-but-ordinary objects, like branded ashtrays, Nalgenes, Frisbees, dog bowls, and one fez- wearing nutcracker—Ayman and Osama work around the clock with factories overseas.
“Which sucks,” says Osama, thinking about those international calls with China, Pakistan, Turkey, Morocco, Egypt. “Sometimes you’re talking at two or three in the morning, and they’re asking what color you want a stitch to be, and I’m like, bro, at this point, I don’t care.” He pauses, flashes a wicked grin, then quickly adds, “. . .but it has to be yellow.”
If skating gave them creativity, their business skills might be thanks to their parents. Analyzing, multi-tasking, troubleshooting—that could be attributed to those short lived white-collar jobs, and therefore, their dad. (Seeing the hard work, he’s since come around to their unconventional career path.) Their street smarts and ability to stretch a dollar, though, comes from their mom.
“She’s a hustler,” says Ayman. “You can’t waste money—if you buy something, it has to keep its value.” Which was true when the brothers were teens trying to buy shoes.
“She’s like, ‘Are you going to just skate them and destroy them?’” he says, mimicking her Egyptian accent. “And we’re like, ‘No, and we think they’re going to go up in price.’ And she’s like, ‘Hmm, okay. I’ll allow it then.’”
To this day, every Friday night, during family supper, they seek her council for every big move, making her the unofficial consigliere of Carpet. Her no is their no, too. And she must be onto something, given the brand’s strategy is so savvy. They’re masters at building demand, whether that’s online—i.e. their impromptu announcements made with high production value, subversive humor, and the occasional cameo from a local dirt biker or Baltimore Club beat—or in their actual collections, which are limited-edition, meaning most items will never be seen again.
Meanwhile, their prices stay low, giving the next-generation skater kid a shot at snagging something. Sure, their silver necklaces and pony-hair coats are a bit higher, as is their first attempt at furniture—a candy-colored fiberglass stool that looks like a stackable baby toy meets a MoMA sculpture—but most items are less than a hundred bucks. And it should all be gone within an hour.
“Sure, we could sell more,” says Osama. “But making money has never been the goal.”
A few years back, as Carpet started taking off, Osama and Ayman got to plotting their next move. At the time, they wanted to build a skatepark. Then that North Avenue bank went up for sale, and the brothers jumped at the opportunity. Other locations might’ve been fancier, with more foot traffic, but to them, Station North was the sweet spot—a real crossroads of Baltimore. Full of grit and gumption. An underdog, just like them.
“I remember riding through the city years ago with friends like, bro, if we had any money, this building would be ours,” says Osama. “We love this street,” says Ayman.
And it’s good timing. The slow-burning arts district is experiencing a new burst of energy, with the forthcoming redevelopment of the North Avenue Market, recently opened restaurants like Mama Koko’s, and the Inviting Light installations, curated by artist Derrick Adams. The Abdeldayems want Carpet to be a draw for the neighborhood, too, if not the entire city.
For that, the 10,000-square-foot flagship will be more than just retail. In addition to their own clothes, a curated inventory will feature other sought-after brands, including one exciting upcoming shoe collab. And they’re once again teaming up with Good Neighbor, opening an outpost of the design-forward coffee shop in the back, where community can linger over South Asian paratha flatbreads and coffee cups embossed with a metallic Carpet logo. Upstairs, they’ll also eventually open an art gallery, where it’s easy to envision packed openings featuring a who’s who from Baltimore and beyond.