Shortly after the turn of the 20th century, William McKee Nowell filled a horse-drawn wagon with dining tables and chairs and set out to sell them on the streets of Raleigh. He no longer had a need for them, since his latest business venture, a restaurant on Hargett Street, failed. The details are long forgotten, but it soon became clear that he was a better furniture salesman than restaurateur. Building on his initial successes, he launched Nowell Brothers’ Furniture in 1905.

A devout Baptist and the son of Wake County’s Sherriff, J.J Nowell, Will was scrupulously honest. He knew that there were no shortcuts to success; he had to earn the trust of his customers one-by-one, day-by-day. His hard work and integrity paid off, and before long, one could find his furniture in the area’s finest homes, including the Governor’s Mansion. What came to be known as Southern Furniture eventually grew to fill the three-story Prairie Building, which still stands at 113 South Wilmington Street.

Will retired in the late 1940s. His sons had just returned from military service, and all three were anxious to take the helm. In 1957, with business growing and the single location bursting at the seams, his eldest son opened a branch of Southern Furniture in nearby Cary.

Jerry and his wife, Betty, eventually parted ways with his brothers and rechristened the Cary store Nowell’s Furniture in 1963. Now free to move in their own direction, they began a shift toward contemporary design, better reflecting they’re own personal aesthetic. In 1968, they sold off the few remaining traditional pieces and became the first – and for several years, only – all-contemporary furniture store from Atlanta to Washington DC.

Initially, some area residents found the new look shocking. There’s a favorite family story about a well-known local fashion maven, and past customer, who surveyed the remodeled showroom and abruptly turned on her heels to leave. When asked if she needed assistance, she shook her head and replied, “My next-door neighbor told me that you had these, these… modernistic things, but I didn’t believe her.” She left and never entered the store again, but others did, and Nowell’s has since more than tripled in size as a result.

Today, under the management of Will’s grandson, Jerry Nowell, Jr., we’re no longer the only source for contemporary furniture in North Carolina; but it is our goal to be the best. Winner of Spectator Magazine’s award for “Best Place to Buy Contemporary Furniture,” five-time winner of Metro Magazine’s reader’s poll as “Best Place to Buy Contemporary Furniture,” and ranked among the 100 top small businesses in North Carolina by Business Leader Magazine, we think we’re on the right track. But, like grandpa Will, we know that we can’t rest on our laurels: we must earn our customers’ trust and patronage one-by-one, day-by-day. For over 100 years, we’ve offered the finest home and office furnishings available and we invite you to visit and be a part of our family tradition.