Nowell's Contemporary Furniture Celebrates 105 Years

September 26, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on September 27, 2010

Nowell's Contemporary Furniture marked its 105th anniversary with a contest to find the oldest documented sales receipt.

The store had possession of a sale document from 1936, but it was for a purchase the Cary, N.C., store itself had made.

"I was thrilled by the number of entries we received for our "oldest receipt" contest," said Nowell's owner Jerry Nowell. "Area residents have been shopping with us for 105 years, but we weren't sure if there was any correlation between good taste in furniture and meticulous record-keeping."

The meticulous record keeper turned out to be Mary Edeburn, of Durham, who had the original receipt for a sofa purchased in 1979.

"This is an added bonus for me," Edeburn said. €œThis has proven to my husband Judd that my pack rat tendencies can actually pay off. It took 39 years, but I'm vindicated at last--and that's priceless."

Jerry Nowell noted that the grand prize, a brand new iPad, would have puzzled his Grandfather, and business founder William McKee Nowell, and that it would have been no surprise to find that Edeburn still uses the more-than-three-decade old sofa on a daily basis.

"Now, save those receipts," said Nowell. "We expect the grand prize will only get grander as the years go by."

Edeburn, a certified Activity Director, says she plans to use the iPad for her visits with area nursing home residents who have difficulty communicating due to illness or injury.

The store was founded in Raleigh, and moved to Cary in 1957.