Nowell's tries temporary store
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, January 1, 2006
Raleigh, N.C. — When Jerry Nowell was looking for a way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his furniture store last year, someone suggested dressing up like it was 1905 and selling furniture from the back of a horse-drawn buggy, just like his grandfather did in the old days.
But Nowell, who has led family-owned Nowell's Contemporary & Scandinavian Furniture since 2001, had another idea.
The company, which had moved from Raleigh to the western suburb of Cary in the 1960s, decided to return to where it all started with a small satellite store in Crabtree Valley Mall.
Since opening last summer, the 5,000-square-foot space has been "sort of an interactive billboard of who we are," said Nowell. With an edited assortment of some of the hottest product for the midpriced to high-end specialty retailer, the mall store has sold its share of furniture, but more importantly has built traffic for the 20,000-square-foot Cary flagship.
Nowell said sales hit about $3.5 million in 2005, up some 12% from 2004.
The mall lease represented an unusual opportunity. Crabtree Valley Mall would have had a vacant space until February 2006 while waiting for a permanent tenant to move in. Nowell's was able to negotiate a lease in which it pays a percentage of sales, which "made it very safe for us to do it," Nowell said.
"It's a good deal," he said. "It gives us a chance to try it out and see what it's like to run two locations."
He said he's open to staying longer at the mall if there's an opportunity, but that's not his intent.
The retailer got its start when William McKee Nowell began selling furniture from a horse-drawn wagon on the streets of Raleigh. He eventually moved into the three-story Prairie Building downtown, an Italianate structure that's now an apartment building but still sports the mosaic tile signage over the entrance that reads "Nowell Bro.'s Furniture."
Jerry Nowell said that every time he and his wife, Erin, pass by the building, "We wish it was still ours."
Nowell's mother and father moved the business to Cary in 1964. In 1968, the company made the transition from selling a variety of home furnishing styles to an all-contemporary format.
"The area has grown so rapidly with people who travel a lot more, who are exposed to contemporary and appreciate it, so the market is growing," Nowell said.
Before Nowell's parents made that format shift, consumers in Raleigh had to go to Washington or Atlanta to find a store specializing in contemporary home furnishings.
"Unfortunately, we have a little bit more competition now," he said.
Nowell believes his business is the "oldest home-grown furniture retailer in North Carolina," but doubts that its history matters much to his customers today.
"It's definitely a plus, but if the customer likes what you carry and it's priced well, they will shop with you — even if you're in business just three days," he said.
Key suppliers to the store include American Leather, EXL, Carter, Ekornes, Seltz, Skovby, Haslev, Ticana, Sun, Jesper and, in bedding, Tempur-Pedic.
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Nowell's tries temporary store
Jan 6, 2006
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