Emerging Entrepreneurs

Couple brings hand-made heritage to Milford

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

	TRR photo by Charlie Buterbaugh Donna Hamilton and Yilmaz Guver stand within the sensuous surroundings of their Milford imports shop, Indigo Arts, Inc. (Click for larger image)

MILFORD, PA — When a Canadian set decorator for New York City-based films and a Turkish expert on large handmade rugs happen to join forces in a renovated Chrysler dealership building, “eclectic collection of goods” scarcely describes the product.

Yilmaz Guver and Donna Hamilton opened Indigo Arts, Inc. in the Indigo Design Center late last fall when they outgrew their shop at the Lumberyard Shops in Milford.

They have traveled in Thailand, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Morocco, finding clothing, furniture, accessories and rugs, and every item has a tale Guver and Hamilton enjoy telling to customers interested in traditional craftsmanship.

“We welcome browsers who want to learn the stories behind each item. The other day, a family spent over an hour talking with us about a few pieces,” Hamilton said. She pointed out an African bench carved from one solid piece of wood that “still smelled of smoke” when it arrived in the United States, silk scarves made by villagers in India, and a small toy car made out of tin because the metal was available in Cambodia.

Guver and Hamilton have developed a long list of contacts with people around the globe who can find the items they need. In fact, they welcome the opportunity to search for people’s preferences if something can’t be found in the store.

Their travels have also led them to buy goods with a social purpose in mind. With their shop in Milford, they have a chance to deliver handmade goods to U.S. buyers and, in turn, help families trying to keep their children at home with a third world income.

“I know how important it is to keep families together. I’ve seen children literally living in sewers and working for factories that make the clothes Americans buy. I’ve seen parents who have to say goodbye to their children, who will be forever changed by the factories in the city. My hope is for these children to remain in their communities, get educated and contribute locally,” Hamilton said.

Indigo Arts supports many cooperatives, including Peace Corps volunteers in India and AIDS patients in Africa who produce traditional clothing and jewelry in hospitals.

Then there are the Turkish rugs—each a licensed design—woven by women in their homes over a couple of years, a Turkish tradition. More accurately, the rugs are knotted, either with wool and cotton or wool and silk and dyed with collected berries and roots. Guver explained that intermarriage caused some of the Turkish rugs to incorporate Persian designs.

Indigo Arts, Inc. also carries rugs from India, Pakistan and Morocco, though Hamilton is partial to the Turkish product, particularly the silk rugs, which contain between 500 and 1,000 knots per square inch and under faint light, produces a sheen that invites bare-footed lounging.

She insists that each patron take a rug home for a week and live with it before paying the full price. I asked her about the prices of the rugs, and she said, “I always suggest that potential buyers check New York City prices, and they always come back.”

In a time of depreciation, when factory-made rugs unravel in a decade with some luck, price doesn’t seem like a fair consideration within the hand-woven, rug-lined walls of Indigo Arts, Inc.

“As someone uses one of these rugs, the colors become richer over time, and they appreciate in value,” Hamilton said.

And, with a variety of handmade items such as slippers and Turkish coffee grinders, frugal shoppers are not expected to leave displeased.

Gulver and Hamilton are planning to travel through India in January and Mexico later next year.

When asked why they chose Milford for a home and business, Hamilton said, “Milford is groovy town.”