Jim Clardy, whose efforts to help a struggling country from the former Soviet Union led to the formation of the area rug manufacturer 828 International, died April 3 due to complications from a heart attack. He was 50 years old.
Clardy, who served as president of the Greenville, S.C. -based company, founded 828 International in 1993 after returning from a 10-day humanitarian trip to Moldova. He was said to have been impressed with rug weavers he met in the tiny landlocked nation situated between Romania and the Ukraine. He began to import the rugs for sale in the U.S. as a way to assist the economically depressed nation. In the process he established a business recognized for its hand-knotted and power loomed rugs.