ZEBULON, N.C. — When Jernigan Furniture bought the building that housed Whitley Furniture Galleries here last year, owner Andrew Jernigan framed it as a way for his century-old, multi-generational business to pay homage to another.
When the grand opening was held on Feb. 20 for the store, located at 101 W. Vance St., many of the former Whitley employees, and its former owners, were on hand. But this time, as part of the Jernigan team.
Whitley Furniture Galleries was in business for 113 years and was a friendly competitor of Jernigan before it closed in 2022…