The Jernigan family has been selling furniture in North Carolina for over a century. As more and more family-owned independent furniture companies around the state decide to close, Jernigan Furniture is stepping in, saving jobs, and ensuring service to more rural citizens in the process. Jernigan Furniture CEO Andrew Jernigan explains how they uncovered an important niche; one they weren’t even looking for.
Selling Furniture to North Carolinians Since 1924
The Jernigan family entered the furniture business with the Edwards family in 1924. The Edwards family sold furniture in Goldsboro and the Jernigan family operated a store in Durham.
In 1954, a gas explosion at the Goldsboro tragically killed several members of the Edwards family. Subsequently, the Edwards family decided to leave the business, giving the Jernigans the choice between staying in Durham or relocating to Goldsboro. At that time, Goldsboro’s Seymour Johnson Air Force Base was being prepared for reactivation after the Korean War.
“My great grandfather, being a byproduct of the recession, decided and knew from his experience, at least up to that point, that the federal government was the only permanent long-term stable source of income that you could truly count and rely on. So he thought that relocating to Goldsboro would be a good idea,” says Andrew.
In 1955, the Goldsboro business reopened where it still stands today. It was first run by Andrew’s great grandfather, then by his grandfather and uncle, and then by his father. When Andrew’s father took over, he was a D.C. executive who liked the idea of being a small business owner and moved his family to Goldsboro. Andrew was three years old.
Becoming a Fourth Generation Business Owner
Andrew began working for and with his father in 2005 and became CEO in 2017. Andrew grew up in the store. As a kid, he learned what it took to run a furniture store: taking trash to the dump, working in the warehouse, becoming a salesperson, and more.
After attending UNC-Wilmington, he wanted to return to work at the store, but his father told him no.
Andrew says, “he told me that I needed to get out, do something different, move somewhere, hopefully a bigger city, and work and stay gone for a while, so that if or when I ever made the decision that I wanted to come back, I would know that it was truly what I wanted to do, that I would never have any regrets, and I would never wonder what if.”
Andrew recalls his father as “the greatest salesman in the world because he never sold furniture. He just wanted to be your best friend, and people like to shop with people who they like, right?”
Andrew recalls his father as “the greatest salesman in the world because he never sold furniture. He just wanted to be your best friend, and people like to shop with people who they like, right?”
Andrew’s father loved selling furniture and working in the store, as did his own father. Andrew liked those things as well but also wanted to run a business and do all the jobs that come with it, much like his great grandfather.
When an opportunity came up to open a store in Smithfield, after 70 years of being a one-location business, Jernigan’s tested out expansion by renting a space in town. That location closed a few years later, when the shopping center’s new owners decided not to renew the lease. But having tried out one expansion, Andrew was eager to try again.
All these closures have created a niche for Jernigan’s, “now it’s become a mantra for us, right? We’re going to keep on going as hard and as fast as we can to try and pick up the legacies of these great boomers that are trying to find a way to gracefully retire and have continuation of service for their customers who have counted on them for 50 plus years minimum,” Andrew says, “and don’t want them to just hand them over to the wolves of the unknown or the low-end providers.”
Buying Buildings to Create a More Stable Future
As the company searched for another location, they asked if the former Whitley Furniture Galleries building in Zebulon was still available for purchase. After 113 years in operation, the Whitleys had closed their store in 2022.
Andrew says buying the building seemed like a natural segue, “the Whitley family had always ideologically lined up with the Jernigan family as far as how we do business, specifically referencing quality of goods, level of service, you know, things like that.”
A loan from KS Bank and the Rural Center’s Loan Participation Program (LPP) allowed the Jernigan’s to purchase the Whitley’s building, which underwent restoration before reopening earlier this year.
The loans, Andrew says, allowed Jernigan’s “to be able to go in there and do something magical with a like-minded business.”
Through LPP, the Rural Center provides small businesses with extra access to capital through indirect lending. The center works with partners like KS Bank throughout the state who provide the bulk of the loans. The funds are used for a variety of purposes: hiring additional employees, renovations, building purchases, and more.
“The acquisition of businesses plays a vital role in strengthening local communities, especially rural communities,” says Rural Center Loan Production Manager Kristin Perkins, continuing, “acquisitions can stimulate economic growth, create employment opportunities for residents, and contribute to a more dynamic and resilient local economy.”
After renting in Smithfield, Andrew knew that a reasonable term loan could cost less than leasing. While owning a building means extra work, he says it also comes with “far more benefits, not just the opportunity to start building equity, right, which is a long-term, you know, driver financially for your family, your employees, your business, but obviously the stability and security that comes with that.”
Keeping Jobs and Uncovering a Niche with Deep Ties
Jernigan Furniture landed in Smithfield after the closure of yet another long-term family-owned furniture store.
“We went to Smithfield because [Tucker Furniture], which was 126 years in business, they had closed up, and the next gen[eration] just didn’t want it. So we were going there to try and fill that void,” says Andrew.
Same with Zebulon.
He continues, “We weren’t open in Zebulon yet when we found out our greatest, oldest friends in the furniture business, which is the Laughinghouses that owned Bostic Sugg in Greenville, that they had the same thing happening.”
After 86 years of operation, there was no one to run the business. The building, which was 22 years old and built specifically for the furniture industry, was going to be turned into self-storage units. So Jernigan Furniture worked with KS Bank and the center once again on a loan to purchase a Greenville building owned by Bostic Sugg Furniture.
All these closures have created a niche for Jernigan’s, “now it’s become a mantra for us, right? We’re going to keep on going as hard and as fast as we can to try and pick up the legacies of these great boomers that are trying to find a way to gracefully retire and have continuation of service for their customers who have counted on them for 50 plus years minimum,” Andrew says, “and don’t want them to just hand them over to the wolves of the unknown or the low-end providers.”
Along with ensuring local residents can buy furniture from an independent family-owned company, Jernigan’s has also hired employees from the furniture businesses that closed. On July 1, every member of the Bostic Sugg team will become a Jernigan’s employee after Bostic Sugg closes in June.
Jernigan’s has also hired former Whitley employees in Zebulon. One day when Andrew was visiting Goldsboro from Washington, D.C., where he worked after college, he went for a drive out in the country.
“And I rolled down my windows and I smelled the sweetest smell I felt like I’d ever smelled in my entire life,” he says.
It was the smell of freshly cut grass.
“And then I realized that I didn’t want that big city life, that I wanted to invest my life, my time, my future, and my finances in rural North Carolina. And we deserve more than Dollar Generals, self-storage, gas stations, and car washes, right?,” he says. “We deserve people who are willing and want to invest. Because in my opinion, and maybe I am dated, I’m sure that I am, but the people that live in rural North Carolina they’re the best of America.”
And with that decision, years ago, Jernigan’s Furniture will stay in business for at least one more generation.