Turco Persian Rug Company has been cleaning, mending and caring for Torontonians’ carpets for over a century. But did you know that this venerable business has its roots in Leaside?
The Leaside-local part of the Turco Persian Rug Company story starts in the 1940s, when Krikor Kasparian and his wife and young family moved from Winchester Street in Cabbagetown to 42 Sutherland Dr., then a dirt road.
Krikor had originally come to Canada after World War I as a “Georgetown Refugee” from the Armenian genocide. Orphaned boys were sent to work on farms near Georgetown, Ont. (As recently as 2023, volunteers in Georgetown joined efforts to resettle Afghan refugee families.) Krikor migrated from the farm to Toronto, and was lucky enough to find an Armenian, Socrates Utudjian, who was running a rug cleaning business, which he had started in 1906, on what was then Duchess Street (now Richmond Street East). Socrates had named the business Turco-Persian Rug Renovating Co. because he thought people in Toronto would consider rugs from Turkey and Persia valuable and a luxury, maybe unaware that Armenians were also rug artisans. Krikor worked as the night watchman at Turco-Persian and slept on their rugs, while working days at an art gallery on Jarvis Street.
Krikor and his wife ran a grocery store during the 1930s in Cabbagetown, but when Socrates died, with no descendants, Krikor decided to buy Turco Persian rather than stay with groceries. That’s when they made the move to Leaside.
The next generation
Son Gregory attended Rolph Road School and Leaside High, then headed to the University of Western Ontario. While the family had ties to the Armenian church, they also faithfully attended Leaside United Church. After graduation, Gregory sold rugs at Eaton’s College Street before joining his father at the plant to “continue the tradition of quality and customer-focused service.”
When Greg and Brigitte married, they set up their household in North Leaside, where they raised three daughters and a son. All the children put in time at the plant – from playing when they were little, to working summers as they grew up. Greg grew the company, modernizing and improving the business over the years. It’s no surprise he became known as “Rug Man Greg” and was sought out at conferences for his deep knowledge of the industry.
Number 3 daughter Jessica, after graduating from Leaside High, attended Concordia University in Montreal, before travelling after graduation, including several years in Japan. She had no real thoughts about returning home to live and work. But as it turned out, her sisters and brother weren’t interested in Turco Persian, and she felt it was important that the next generation of Kasparians carry on the family business. After a few years of marketing and public relations jobs, when her father said, “it’s time,” she joined him at Turco Persian in 2009, and became its owner in 2011. Greg died in 2023, but Brigitte is still in the neighbourhood, living now in Kilgour Estates.
Jessica’s husband, Dan Buganto, has also joined the company and is instrumental in continuing modernization and expansion while furthering the core business. The company prides itself on “introducing eco-friendly practices and products, deepening a commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainable care.”
Turco Persian today
In the old days, the mansions along Sherbourne and Dundas had summer and winter carpets, which they rotated. The men from Turco Persian kept them all in good shape and provided storage in the off season. Now the business extends throughout the GTA and to Collingwood and Muskoka and includes cleaning and seasonal storage, not only for rugs but also for outdoor cushions. Jessica Kasparian is known as a skilled appraiser for insurance and estate needs.
It is an accomplishment that a company started in 1906 is still healthy, in the same location, and now in its third generation of Kasparian ownership.
Fun fact – Jessica fondly remembers “Miss Fertuck” as one of her teachers from Leaside High. We, of course, know her as Leaside Life writer Janis Fertuck.
