LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A carpet store in Louisville said its bestselling products come from the hands of women in Afghanistan.

As Sophia Khazai admires rugs that were hand wove in Afghanistan, she remembers the women behind each piece. 

“It looks contemporary but actually, it's not a contemporary rug these people are tribal, they live in tents. They don't have access to any design, and they put in their work whatever they see in front of their eye, and then you see the trees, you see the little goats and then some birds and these are the stories of their life, it’s the story of how they live, what they see what they go through,” Khazai said.

Sophia Khazai admires an Afghan-made rug in her store. (Spectrum News 1/Crystal Sicard)

Since 2005, Khazai and her husband have run their rug store in Louisville. With rugs from different countries, Khazai said her rugs and weavers from Afghanistan will always hold a special place in her heart. 

“All I can say is that it's just such a sad day for me. I wish I didn't know them personally. I wish I didn't know their daughter's story. I wish I didn't know their school situation, but I know all the details and my heart bleeds for them,” Khazai said.

In the rug industry, most of Khazai's pieces are created by women and that’s why she stepped into this industry, to help women around the world. 

“Females are the only ones who have no other option: they can’t work in McDonald's, they can’t work in Uber. All their hope, all their investment was in rug weaving because that's the only place they can find a job,” Khazai said.

Rugs from Afghanistan have been her bestsellers for years, and because of supply and demand, it may impact their business. 

“They're telling me, whatever we sold you were giving another 20% on top of it to return it because production is going to go down, why we were so low in production because of the COVID. And now, they're not gonna let the shipment come at least until, you know, everybody gets settled down, and then the females, most of my weaves are, I don't know if they can even go to work if they can even leave the house without men escorting them,” Khazai said. 

Khazai said the trials in Afghanistan are deeper than her family business, and she hopes the women behind each rug are able to continue sharing their stories when the time comes. 

“They're just stunning and all these people that worked on these rugs. They're basically our family, they're not just the workers, they're our family,” Khazai said.

Khazai has two storefront locations in Lexington and Louisville. The owners said they'll continue to sell rugs from Afghanistan in hopes to purchase more in the future.