Kay King had been planning to open a new and used furniture store for some time when in early October she found out terrible news.
The Jones County native was diagnosed with breast cancer. But that hasn’t stopped her plans. Despite trips to Duke Hospital, including a recent surgery, King plans to open the 2,000-square-foot Furniture Gallery today.
“It slowed us up,” she said about her ordeal, “so we aren’t quite where we want to be.”
However, King, her husband Ellis King and Store Manager Wilby Cole were busy readying the shop for today’s opening.
Ellis King was attaching weathered clapboard siding to the entrance along the side of the post office facing the Galaxy of Sports on Wednesday.
Kay King and Cole were getting the inside décor items ready for sale.
The Ellises moved to Kinston in 1978 and opened the Galaxy of Sports in 1979. In 2006, they sold the bowling and skating center. Today, the couple resides in Duplin County.
Kay said she started going to auctions and began accumulating a number of items.
“I kind of got hooked on auction stuff,” she said, “I thought, ‘Why not just start selling it?’ I like taking nothing and making something out of it.”
The store features an assortment of new and vintage furniture, as well as lamps, vases, artwork and other décor.
Besides the items the Ellises have purchased through auction sales, there is a variety of items from five vendors. Merchandise includes Christmas wreaths, bows and centerpieces; shabby chic furniture and décor; and new overstock or slightly damaged furniture from Highland Furniture.
Kay also has furniture that can be purchased as is or can be custom refinished or painted.
One unusual item is a pair of distressed picture frames crafted into earring hangers.
Most of the furniture is solid wood, including cherry, maple and mahogany.
“It’s really high-quality furniture that’s been redone,” Kay said. Prices are in line with the quality of each piece, she added.
It’s advisable to bring extra help when purchasing heavy furniture, but delivery is available with a charge. All sales are final.
Kay will be undergoing chemotherapy in the coming weeks, so Cole and some of the vendors will mainly be operating the store.
Furniture Gallery, 4008-D W. Vernon Ave., is open from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays. For information, call 521-4567.
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The National Gallery of Art recently unveiled its new online store.
With a state-of-the-art platform and an entirely new design, the online arm of the Gallery Shops now carries a fuller range of products, offers expanded shopping functionality and allows customer self-service with a variety of new features.
The Gallery Shops' site carries more than 1,000 products, including Gallery publications, special exhibition products, framed and matted prints and an assortment of gift items.
Much of the selection is new to the Gallery's online customers, and reflects the most requested items from the Gallery's three-store locations within the museum's buildings.
For the first time, the Gallery's online store will have gift guides, wish lists, gift registries, suggested items and a powerful onsite search capability offering customers refinements by product type, price, subject, artist, movement or period and other characteristics.
Image zooming and alternate views allow for more detailed browsing, and expanded descriptions include information about authors, exhibitions, artists and the original objects on which products are based.
Customers can manage their own profiles, address book, email preferences, credit balances and other information, as well as view a detailed history of their orders and track individual shipments with ease.
A new offering for the Gallery is Mercury Rewards, a loyalty program that awards points to registered shoppers that can be redeemed on subsequent purchases.
The online store also now will redeem an array of promotion codes and cross-channel coupons, as well as honoring discounts for Circle Members. It will offer electronic gift certificates and, if sending a present, will allow for gift messages, special handling and an expanded selection of shipping options.
The new online store platform also includes product safety and age-labeling for children's items and editorial reviews.
For information, visit www.shop.nga.gov.
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.
Do you have a new retail business or one that’s undergone a significant change? The Free Press would like to hear about it. Contact Margaret Fisher at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com.