Old school N.C. retailer gets a new look

GRAHAM, N.C. — For retailers who have reached or eclipsed the 100-year mark, change is more often gradual than sudden.

But sometimes drastic changes are necessary. Take 118-year-old Green & McClure Furniture here, which completed a major facelift earlier this year. Its new look nods at historical architecture with an updated feel and replaced an outdated metal exterior from the 1970s.

And while the facelift added curb appeal, it also breathed new life into Green & McClure’s upstairs clearance area for the first time in decades.

“The big deal was upstairs. We never had natural light upstairs in my lifetime,” fourth-generation owner Griffin McClure told Furniture Today. “Knowing from old pictures that there were historically windows up there. That, and the logo were the catalysts for the project.”

Since its completion in January, McClure said the new façade has generated plenty of interest from locals and from passers-by in this central North Carolina town, just outside of Burlington.

“The reception from the city and the 20,000 cars that drive by here every day has been the most surprising part of it,” he said. “In hindsight, I knew people would like it but not pull-over-on-the-side-of-the-road like it. It’s something I wasn’t expecting.”

The store got its beginnings when McClure’s great-grandfather, E.B. McClure, and partner W.B. Green started the business in 1907. In addition to furniture, the store also sold caskets, since they were usually made by the same manufacturers. The partner left, the store went 100% furniture through four generations of the McClure family.

McClure said his father never pushed him into the industry and let him make the choice for himself. He got his start in retail by selling sleep products and has gotten more involved in the industry over the years, including a stint on the High Point Market Authority’s board of directors.

“I cut my teeth on standalone mattress stores. We entered the Americas Mattress franchise and was the second mattress store in the county,” he said.

Green & McClure’s mattress section features Serta, and in the furniture showroom, key vendors include Bassett, Lexington, Smith Brothers, Temple Furniture, Leathercraft and several smaller companies from North Carolina.

McClure said many of his vendors offer custom options, which appeals to his store’s customer base.

“We’re small enough and nimble enough to go pick stuff up in smaller batches. We’re not container driven,” he said. “We’re not going to High Point Market to see what the trends are going to be in six months. We know what our folks here like and enjoy and want to purchase. We pride ourselves on being one of the only local customizable experiences.”

Also, working with local interior designers has also been a successful avenue.

“We try to network and build bridges with designers locally and regionally. That business has become more important as consumers don’t want that traditional retail experience,” McClure said. “They want, depending on their level of affluence, that experience to be more curated and on their own time. The affluent family doesn’t want to spend its Saturday bouncing between three or four furniture stores.”

And while the business draws designers, it’s also been bolstered by a growing population base in the region.

“Regionally, we’re in a different spot than a lot of the country. We’re the third-fastest growing state, one of the fastest growing metro regions,” McClure said. “If we can’t make it now, we’re not going to make it ever in what we do. “

So what lessons can be learned from a furniture store that’s been around for 118 years? McClure said then and now, it’s always been about the customer.

“Do what you do and do it well. Instead of focusing on increasing transactions, improve transactions. Make that customer experience worth repeating,” he said. “That comes from my father, who sold furniture off his wife’s porch one time because he didn’t have it in stock anymore. I’ve got memories of him and me in the delivery truck together taking a recliner or cedar chest or grandfather clock on Christmas Eve.”

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