Braided and woven area rugs made in Troy, North Carolina since 1917
🇺🇸 American Manufacturing
Where Capel products are made
Troy, North Carolina
Capel’s factory and offices are at 831 North Main Street in Troy. The company describes its braided rugs as “all made in our North Carolina factory since 1917,” and its domestic constructions — braided, flat woven, machine-made Bosphorus and custom fabric-bordered Creative Concepts — carry “Country of Origin: USA” at the product level.
Capel is an American manufacturer and an importer, and it says so under a heading on its own homepage literally titled Imports: “We are an importer of rugs from countries such as India, Turkey, Belgium, and Egypt.” Its hand-knotted, hand-loomed and hand-tufted lines are made abroad and labelled accordingly — a hand-knotted rug will read “Country of Origin: India.” That is why this profile carries the American Manufacturing badge rather than Made in USA. Buyers who want the domestic product should shop Capel’s Made in the USA collection specifically.
The story
The company began with rope. In 1917 A. Leon Capel, a young North Carolinian, started manufacturing mule plow lines in Troy — braided cord for farmers working the Piedmont.
The pivot to rugs came from a problem with the product. As tractors displaced mules, demand for plow line collapsed; the braiding machinery, however, was perfectly capable of turning out something else. Braided rugs were the answer, and the equipment barely had to change.
That accident of machinery became a century-long business. Capel grew into one of the largest rug companies in the country, adding flat-woven, machine-made and custom-bordered domestic constructions alongside an imported catalogue sourced from weaving traditions abroad.
It remains family-owned and independent, now run by the founder’s descendants — Cameron, Ron and Richard Capel — from the same town where the plow lines were braided.
Why they matter
American rug manufacturing is very nearly extinct. The category moved offshore almost completely, and a shopper looking for a domestically made area rug has few genuine options left. Capel is one of the last companies still running looms in the United States at scale.
It is also honest about the split, which matters more than it might seem. Plenty of importers imply domestic manufacture through American-sounding names and heritage imagery. Capel publishes country of origin at the product level and segregates its US-made rugs into their own collection.
And the domestic lines are the ones that made the company — braided rugs still produced in Troy on the descendant of the machinery that once braided plow line. That is a continuous manufacturing lineage running back over a hundred years in a single small town.
Featured products
Browse Capel rugs available now in the Buy American store — check the product origin to select the domestically made constructions.
Frequently asked questions
Are Capel rugs made in the USA?
Some are. Capel manufactures its braided, flat-woven, machine-made Bosphorus and custom Creative Concepts rugs in Troy, North Carolina. Its hand-knotted, hand-loomed and hand-tufted lines are imported from countries including India, Turkey, Belgium and Egypt, and the company states this openly.
How old is Capel?
A. Leon Capel started making rugs in 1917. The company describes itself as “over 100 years strong.” A predecessor plow-line business dates to 1915.
Where is Capel located?
Capel Incorporated is headquartered at 831 North Main Street in Troy, North Carolina, where its domestic manufacturing also takes place.
How do I tell which Capel rugs are American-made?
Check the country of origin on the product listing — domestic rugs read “Country of Origin: USA.” Capel also groups its domestic product into a dedicated Made in the USA collection.