Our business has been a family affair at Oriental Rug Cleaning Co. for more than 100 years. H. Mirza Amirkhan Sr., who founded the business over a century ago, was an Armenian born in Turkey in 1889. Seeking freedom and opportunity, he booked immigrated to the United States in 1909. He paid for his passage by working in Cincinnati, Ohio for his cousin’s rug cleaning and repair business. After learning the rug cleaning trade and repaying his debt, he set out seeking opportunity.

Arriving in Dallas in 1911, he set up his own rug cleaning and repair shop at 2105 S. Ervay. Thanks to his rug cleaning expertise and outstanding customer service, the business was successful and grew, enabling him to build his own two-story building at 3907 Ross Avenue, where he lived and worked. In 1926, he added a second building next door. Today, those buildings still house the Oriental Rug Cleaning Co., and all its operations. H. M.’s partner in life and business was his wife, Gracie, who worked in the business for half a century until her death in 1973.

His son, also named Mirza, took over the business from his father after completing law school in 1954, adding his unique and energetic personality to the growing business. He was instrumental in expanding the business through diversification, adding carpet and drapery cleaning to our services. Mirza retired in 2010 at 83, but current customers routinely ask about him and remember him not just for his interest in their rugs, but for his personal interest in their families. After their children were grown, his wife, Inez, entered the business in 1976 and worked here until retirement in 2010. In 1980, Ellen Amirkhan became the third generation of her family to join Oriental Rug Cleaning Co.