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For Immediate Release
Contact: Gary Tobin News Releases for 2021 - 2020 - 2019 - 2018 - 2017 - 2016 2021 
Grammy, Oscar-winning artists featured in online O Museum Fundraiser on Oct. 24WASHINGTON, DC - October 22, 2021 - 0 Museum in the Mansion, a 20th century Civil Rights site on the African-American Heritage Trail and the Washington, DC home-away-from-home of Mrs. Rosa Parks for over 10 years, will debut ‘Every Step Tells A Story,’ on Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021, to raise funds for the museum’s critical work to address systemic racism. View the entire release 
Building Value: The Art of CollectingSeptember 30, 2021 - Jan David Winitz has spent most of his life thinking about antique Persian rugs. His interest and passion were spurred by a close family member, one of the few women involved in the collecting niche in the mid-20th century. “While collecting baseball cards and playing sports,” he remembers, “I was also looking at rugs with her, asking questions and being drawn in by their majesty and beauty.” View the entire release
The Impact of Color in Caucasian Rugs (Part 2)OAKLAND, CA - September 13, 2021 - In the first article of this three-part series about antique Caucasian rugs woven during the Second Golden Age of Persian Weaving (ca. 1800 to ca. 1900), I examined the people, environment, and cosmology of the tribal weaving groups that wove these magnificent representations of the people (primarily women) who created them. View the entire release
The Timeless Cosmology of 19th Century Caucasian Rugs (Part I)OAKLAND, CA - September 3, 2021 - For centuries, the Caucasus Mountain Range provided refuge for nomadic peoples forced out of more hospitable areas. Eventually, approximately 350 different tribes resided in the mountain range that extended from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, stretching across modern-day Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Russia. The people spoke over 150 distinct languages. View the entire release The Art of CollectingOAKLAND, CA - June 17, 2021 - Having spent more than four decades as an art dealer specializing in antique Oriental rugs, I have had the privilege of working with thousands of clients. They share my passion for collecting and deeply value their collections, which range from classical and contemporary art to automobiles, jewelry, fine wine, furniture, and sports memorabilia. View the entire release The art of the pivot: Rug store turns to innovation to survive pandemic
March 12, 2021. By Mark Calvey - Jan David Winitz, who’s in the business of selling antique rugs for as much as half-a-million dollars, didn’t hit the panic button when the pandemic forced him to temporarily shut his main Oakland gallery in March 2020, his first extended closure in more than 40 years. Instead, he quickly pivoted. He and his team of about 40 rebuilt a high-touch business for e-commerce. He upgraded the company’s website, made more rugs available online and enhanced the ability to find the Claremont Rug Co. through web searches. View the entire release  Marin nonprofit homebuilder plans to cease operations
February 18, 2021 - A North Bay nonprofit housing developer that has built over 4,000 homes for nearly 10,000 residents over the past four decades is winding down operations. Novato-based Northbay Family Homes cited rising costs of construction and challenges in raising project funds for the decision, announced Tuesday Feb. 16. The organization’s last project was a 100-unit development envisioned for near the downtown Petaluma train station. View the entire release  Dynamically Reinventing A Luxury Business In The Midst Of A Pandemic
January 30, 2021 - In mid-March 2020, Claremont Rug Company, the firm Jan David Winitz founded was confronted with the same conundrum that tens of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses faced. Effectively, the global COVID-19 pandemic forced them to immediately close the doors of a gallery in Oakland, CA that Jan had nurtured and matured for over 40 years. View the entire release 2020  Claremont Rug Co.: Reinventing a luxury business in the midst of a pandemic
November 23, 2020. By LUXURY DAILY NEWS SERVICE - A strange thing occurred when Jan David Winitz was pivoting his business. He ended up reinventing it. In mid-March, the Claremont Rug Company founder was confronted with the same conundrum that thousands of businesses in California faced. Effectively, the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to suddenly close the doors of a gallery that he had nurtured, and matured for nearly 40 years in one location in Oakland, CA. View the entire release Majestic Carpets
October 28, 2020. by Shaun Tolson - Increasingly collectible, antique Oriental rugs can transform an interior and transport you to a bygone era or a far-flung region of the world. To the uninitiated, the thought of an antique Oriental rug conjures distinct visual characteristics—a specific, albeit limited, interior aesthetic. Contrary to that assumption, decorative rugs woven throughout the Persian Empire during the 19th century and early 20th century offer a vast array of design motifs and color palettes. View the entire release Exploring the Traditions of Antique Oriental Rugs
OAKLAND—October 20, 2020 - In the first installment of this series on the traditions that produced antique Oriental rugs, I focused on Tribal and Village rugs and the art of their weavers to capture intimate experiences of nature and the cosmos through ancient geometric symbols. View the entire release  MARIN VOICELandlord-tenant cooperation crucial during pandemic September 26. 2020 - We are in the middle of a pandemic- induced rental housing crisis in California, one which is potentially devastating for Marin County tenants and landlords alike. Having been in the residential, single-family rental business representing landlords in Marin for over 15 years, our property management company has seen (and lived through) ups and downs in the market. But none have been quite like this one. View the entire release  Providing a Steady HandBy Dave Joves, SVP Bank of Guam September 4, 2020 - It all starts here. Until we are able to feel safe, it will be difficult to execute any growth plans in this uncertain environment. Accepting the responsibility of leadership for the WBA at this moment promises to be one of the most potentially rewarding and, yes, challenging tasks of my banking career. The industry, particularly for small and medium-size institutions, is in the midst of changes across the board: regulatory, competitive, societal and technological. View the entire release  Executive Profile: Dave Joves, senior vice president of Bank of GuamBy Mark Calvey, August 28, 2020 - Dave Joves is the senior executive for the Bank of Guam’s office in San Francisco, which the company opened in 1982 to be physically closer to its regulators. That’s a plus for the FDIC-insured bank whose headquarters is 5,800 miles — and a 17-hour time difference — away from the Bay Area. Joves joined the Bank of Guam in 2011 after previously serving as CEO of San Francisco’s Mission National Bank. View the entire release Is a rental housing bubble forming in California Wine Country?
July 22, 2020 - Evidence may be growing for the flight of residents from dense urban areas such as San Francisco to suburbs such as the North Bay due to the coronavirus pandemic. On one side is a noticeable rise that real estate professionals are noting in demand since April for single- and multifamily rentals in Marin and Sonoma counties. On the other side is new research that suggests much of the home-shopping in the San Francisco Bay Area is happening in the same area as the resident.. View the entire release  School closures. Parents seek ‘micro-pods’ to handle distance learning.
July 20, 2020 - If they can find the right combination of kindred families and qualified teachers or tutors, Marin moms Darcy Alkus-Barrow and Malissa Reyes are planning to go “micro-pod" for the upcoming school year. "I know that distance learning was not working for us," said Alkus-Barrow, of San Rafael, who has a 6-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old son. "I’ve known that for a long time.". View the entire release  Claremont Rug’s Magic Carpet Ride
By C.J. Prince - May 29, 2020 - High-end oriental rug collector Jan David Winitz has had an even easier time reaching clients virtually—now that they have nowhere else to go..When you think of retail products best suited for online-only sales, you’d probably come up with the usual suspects: household products, beauty care, non-perishable food…toiletpaper. View the entire release Jan David Winitz Examines Antique Rugs from the Caucasus MountainsOAKLAND, CA - May 9, 2020 - Last month, Art Daily and Jan David Winitz, founder/president of Claremont Rug Company, began a series of first person narratives and interviews that will discuss a wide range of topics related to the selecting, evaluating and collecting of antique Oriental rugs from the Second Golden Age of Persian Weaving, ca. 1800 to ca. 1910. View the entire release Marin Voice: Urging compassion, education for landlords, tenants during COVID-19 crisis
April 19, 2020 - Any way that you look at the COVID-19 crisis, there is one glaring conclusion: this is not normal. In an age when technology draws the world together, we are being asked to stay apart and isolate ourselves for good reason. It is affecting how we work, how we live and, for some, if we live... View the entire release Preeminent Antique Carpet Gallery Reaches Out to Clientele with Message of Inspiration
OAKLAND—April 1, 2020 - Claremont Rug Company, which specializes in art-level antique Oriental rugs woven during the Second Golden Age of Persian Weaving (ca 1800 to ca 1910), has enhanced its online presence as it continues to serve its clients who reside on six continents. View the entire release 2019 Entrepreneurial banker joins San Francisco business-advisory firmBy Mark Calvey, October 22, 2019 - Former community bank CEO Kim Kaselionis has joined San Francisco-based AssayCS as a managing director focused on working with owners of mid-sized businesses seeking to boost valuations ahead of a merger or acquisition. View the entire release  How Darcy Alkus-Barrow Pursues Her Passion.
August 23, 2019 - Darcy Alkus-Barrow And her husband, Christopher, are devoted to helping others. They have integrated their business and philanthropy, while also overcoming their own personal struggles. Darcy and Christopher are co-founders and co-managing partners of Foundation Homes Property Management in Kentfield, a residential, single-family/long-term home rental business. View the entire release The Enduring Allure of Antique Caucasian Rugs
OAKLAND—August 1, 2019 - While connoisseurs for decades have recognized the importance of antique tribal rugs woven in the Caucasus Mountains, these carpets are increasingly being added to private collections as the art world in general has come to appreciate their unique portrayal of nature and the cosmos. View the entire release Great Antique Oriental Rugs Create Grand SpacesOAKLAND, CA - January 29, 2019 - For nearly four decades president and founder Jan David Winitz of Claremont Rug Company has collaborated with clients to provide one-in-the-world antique Persian carpets to complement the interiors of grand residential spaces with great rugs. Whether a lakeside home, a mountain retreat or primary residence, the homes benefit immeasurably from the emotional and artistic impact that their selections provide. View the entire release Christie's: Strong results achieved for Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, including Oriental Rugs and Carpets.London - April 29, 2019 - The top lot was an important Safavid silk and metal-thread 'Polonaise' carpet from Isfahan, central Persia, first quarter 17th century, which fetched £3,895,000, setting a new world record price for a ‘Polonaise’ carpet at auction. Another highlight of the sale, the Monumental Mamluk Qur’an sold for £3,724,750, achieving a world record for a Qur’an at auction. View the entire release Have Local Rents Reached Their Peak?Foundation Homes draws on 2018 data comparisons to provide a fresh outlook on the 2019 rental market. Have local rents reached their peak? When we last wrote to you at the beginning of the year, we were looking back at 2018 and applying our expertise to the data that we had been creating over the past three years about the single family home (SFH) rental market, primarily in Marin County. View the entire release Bay Area community bank reaches agreement with regulators to get house in orderBy Mark Calvey, March 4, 2019 - Beacon Business Bank said it remains financially strong as it reached an agreement with regulators to address a range of issues, including compliance and risk management. San Francisco-based Beacon Business Bank reached an agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to address issues ranging from compliance to risk management. View the entire release  THE RUG WHISPERER
Jan David Winitz knows rugs like a master sommelier knows wine. By Gwen Taylor, March 1, 2019 - For clients of Jan David Winitz, President and Founder of the Claremont Rug Company, a home with a spectacular ocean view must have equally spectacular rugs. And as I learned recently, his clients seek him out because he brings encyclopedic knowledge, artistic style and over 40 years’ experience to every project. He also knows the light quality in different parts of the world. The needs of architectural styles from modern to historic. And even how to express the range of moods that ocean homes can evoke with…carpets. View the entire release Claremont Rug Company founder Jan David Winitz reveals major shifts in high-end antique Oriental rug marketOAKLAND, CA - In his annual letter sent to clients, Claremont Rug Company founder/president Jan David Winitz, highlighted the mix of technology, artistic/investment value and the appreciation of specific Oriental rug types from the “Second Golden Age of Persian Weaving,” ca. 1800 to ca. 1910, as the primary factors that influencing acquisitions decision by connoisseurs. View the entire release 2018 Husband and wife team, Darcy and Christopher Barrow, are the co-founders and co-managing partners of Foundation Homes International in Kentfield, specializing in managing, leasing and selling Marin, Sonoma and San Francisco properties.Mallorie Kerrigan, September 2018 Issue - Founded in 2010, the firm has more than $100 million of long-term residential single-family homes under rental management. This year, they’re launching their nonprofit, LifeBoost Charity Fund, next year—aimed at helping people, the planet and pets. They live in San Rafael with their daughter, Scarlett, and three dogs. View the entire release How Marin homeowners are cashing in on their homes without selling
July 2, 2018 - In the Bay Area’s ultra-competitive housing market, Darcy and Christopher Barrow discovered an underserved niche: high-end rental homes in Marin County. The married couple runs Foundation Homes International, a property management company that specializes in single-family homes valued at upwards of $1 million that rent between $5,000 and $15,000 per month. View the entire release Foundation Homes Study
Reveals Split in High-end
Luxury Rental Market
Kentfield—February 9, 2018 - Foundation Homes International (FHI) today released the results of a comprehensive study of the high-end rental market in Marin County that revealed mixed results for owners and renters of single family homes (SFH). View the entire release Claremont Rug Company Names
50 Best of Their Type Antique Oriental Rugs Sold in 2017
With Online Gallery Exhibition
OAKLAND—January 25, 2018 - For the seventh consecutive year, eminent art dealer Jan David Winitz, whose Claremont Rug Company gallery specializes in museum-level Oriental carpets from the “Second Golden Age of Persian Weaving,” has mounted an exhibition of the “Best of Their Type” 19th century Persian and tribal rugs sold during the previous year. View the entire release 2017 82-unit San Rafael complex sold for $42.6 million
By Keri Brenner, Marin Independent Journal - A major apartment complex in north San Rafael has changed hands for the third time in nine years, signaling what could be an uptick in Marin’s already heated upscale rental market and a “trickle-down” increase in value in the surrounding neighborhood. View the entire release Foundation Homes Offers
Free Services to Families
Affected by Fires
Kentfield—October 18, 2017 - Foundation Homes International today announced that it was waiving all relocation fees associated with finding temporary or permanent rental residences for victims of Northern California’s devastating wildfires. View the entire release Decade of emerging trend now the "new normal" among collectors of art-level antique oriental rugs
July 7, 2017 - Eminent art dealer Jan David Winitz, whose Claremont Rug Company gallery specializes in art-level Oriental carpets from the “Second Golden Age of Persian Weaving,” has begun to tip to his global clients that a trend which began nearly a decade ago is now a prominent feature among connoisseur collectors. View the entire release  A view from San Francisco
May 16, 2017 - by Jan David Winitz - An insider’s guide to the city by Jan David Winitz, an art dealer in oriental rugs. Jan David Winitz, 61, is an art dealer specialising in oriental rugs from the 19th century. In 1980, he founded the Claremont Rug Company. He describes his favourite view of San Francisco. It is from the observation tower at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. I come here often to see their collection of historic oriental rugs. View the entire release Marin Voice: A helping hand for Marin small businesses
May 13, 2017 - Most small businesses are familiar with the U.S. Small Business Administration, primarily as a guarantor to bank or credit union funding for their loans. Less well known but a core mission of the Small Business Administration is its partial funding of Small Business Development Centers which provide no cost assistance to local, small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. View the entire release 2016 Marin Voice: Novato — there is more there than meets the eye
October 3, 2016 - Judging the economic vitality of a city is often more than what the statistics reveal. Nonetheless, those numbers and the research that goes into “discovering” them are part and parcel of how Novato residents judge the effectiveness of their city government and the managers and elected officials who create and administer the city’s budget. View the entire release  Ex-Banker's Crowdfunding Firm Finds Its Missing Link: A Bank
September 28, 2016 - Fresno First Bank isn't interested in investing. Rather, it hopes to get an early look at prospective small-business borrowers among the companies that use Breakaway Funding to raise capital. The partnership was finalized just last week, so Fresno First cannot point to any completed deals yet, but it is hoping the assembly line will soon be up and humming. How enthusiastic is the $292 million-asset bank? It has allocated $10 million for lending to equity-crowdfunded businesses. View the entire release Community bank places big bet on crowdfunded small businesses
September 27, 2016 - While many community bankers are still deciding whether crowdfunding is friend or foe, Sausalito-based Breakaway Funding found a bank willing to allocate $10 million of its loan portfolio to companies coming through Breakaway's crowdfunding platform. Fresno First Bank agreed to the $10 million allocation for small businesses ranging from startups to those with up to $25 million in annual revenue. View the entire release  Fresno First Bank to offer crowdfunding option to business borrowers
September 21, 2016 - A Valley bank is teaming up with a Bay Area-based internet company to offer crowdfunding to area business borrowers. Fresno First Bank and Breakaway Funding LLC, a securities-based crowdfunding portal headquartered in Sausalito, today jointly announced an agreement to bring the hybrid crowdfunding process for business lending to the San Joaquin Central Valley. View the entire release Community bankers find unlikely ally: Wells Fargo's CEO
July 19, 2016 - Rising rents are taking a toll on San Francisco's small businesses and nonprofits trying to remain in the city. Conversations with small business owners and nonprofit leaders at Bay Area business luncheons or over coffee these days often include talk of how they've moved to Oakland and elsewhere as San Francisco rents doubled — or worse. View the entire release Marin IJ Editorial: Economic forum’s new chief reflects focus
July 18, 2016 - The naming of the Marin Economic Forum’s new chief not only opens a new chapter for this important public/private partnership, but it also reinforces the Marin economy’s focus on building the county’s position as a center for the growing bio-sciences industry. View the entire release Marin Voice: Life sciences — building the economic well-being of Marin
April 8, 2016 - Sometimes what’s going on hides in plain sight. In the past couple of weeks, several reports have caught our attention both because of what they pointed out and because of what they implied about the economic vitality of Marin County, now and into the future. View the entire release Regulation CF will allow small businesses to access crowdfunding
April 4, 2016 - Nearly four years has passed since Congress passed The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, which was intended to expand and to ease methods of capital raising by relaxing the regulatory burden on smaller companies. One of six provisions of the JOBS Act was Title III: “Regulation Crowdfunding” (Regulation CF). View the entire release A Basic Primer for Buying an Oriental Rug
March 4, 2016 - The term “Oriental rug” is a generic term that applies to any carpet woven by hand across the Eastern world. It includes both new production created in a wide area stretching from Romania to China, and antique rugs, the finest of which were created as one-of-a-kind art works in the traditional weaving regions of Persia, the Caucasus, Turkey and Central Asia. View the entire release Passion and Provenance
February 24, 2016 - Having spent nearly four decades as an art dealer specializing in antique Oriental rugs, I have had the privilege to work with hundreds of clients. They share my passion for collecting and deeply value the satisfaction brought by their collections, which range from classical and contemporary art to fine wine, furniture and sports memorabilia. View the entire release New Results from fedupwithdonaldtrump.com Site Reveal Hardening, Negative Attitudes San Rafael, CA—February 4, 2016 - More than four months of continuous polling at the website www.fedupwithdonaldtrump.com reveals that attitudes of responders are hardening and focusing in on four areas, according to Gary Tobin, who set up the site in October 2015. View the entire release Claremont Rug Company Names Best of the Best Antique Rugs Sold in 2015 With Online Gallery Exhibition
OAKLAND—January 14, 2016 - For the fifth consecutive year eminent art dealer Jan David Winitz, whose Claremont Rug Company gallery specializes in art-level Oriental carpets from the “Second Golden Age of Persian Weaving,” today opened an online exhibition of “best of the best” 19th century Persian and tribal rugs sold during 2015. View the entire release  Read and Listen to Gary Tobin Listen to Gary Tobin on KQED-FM Radio Listen to Gary Tobin on KQED-FM Radio What corporate PR pros should know about agencies
About TOBIN & Associates TOBIN & Associates provides reputation management, corporate communications, strategic message development, public relations and marketing/brand building services. The office is located at 523 4th Street, Suite 206, San Rafael, CA 94901. Tobin can be reached at 415-256-9490 or via email at gptobin2003@yahoo.com. |