By Ben McNeely
bmcneely@independenttribune.com
KANNAPOLIS – K-Town Furniture Co.’s building in downtown Kannapolis is for sale.

But owner and founder Melvin Vanderburg said the furniture store is not closing, just moving.


“I’ve always been hopeful that we could take all the stores and put them under one roof,” Vanderburg said. “We’ve had a lot of interest in the property, from other furniture stores and businesses.”

The store, sitting on about 2 acres beside the North Carolina Research Campus in downtown Kannapolis, is one of very few properties not owned by billionaire and campus developer David Murdock.

“There is a strong interest in a five-star hotel occupying this space some day,” Vanderburg said.

A hotel developer, Charles Johnson, from Statesville, has expressed interest in building a hotel there, Vanderburg said.

Johnson is co-owner of the Carnegie Hotel in Johnson City, Tenn., according to the hotel’s Web site.

Vanderburg said the hotel project could cost between $75 million and $80 million.

The K-Town property is listed at between $11 million and $14 million, and Vanderburg would not say how much he paid for it.

“That is a private matter,” Vanderburg said.

If a hotel is built in downtown Kannapolis, it would be “a complimentary and excellent use” of property in downtown, City Manager Mike Legg said.

“There is still a lot of homework to be done, but if the numbers work out, it would be a fantastic addition,” Legg said.

Vanderburg, 89, said he put the building on the market because of his age and out of respect for Murdock.

“With our respect for Mr. Murdock and the people of Kannapolis, with the wonderful things that he is building here, we felt he wouldn’t want a furniture store in his front yard,” Vanderburg said.

Murdock has not approached Vanderburg and his business partner, Fred Morrison, about selling his property.

Vanderburg opened K-Town Furniture in 1957 and has been in business every since. Over the past 40 years, he expanded his furniture business to Salisbury, Concord and Charlotte, as well as in Cannon Village.

He rents space in Cannon Village, where Carolina Interiors and Village Furniture House are located.

After Pillowtex closed in 2003, Vanderburg expanded Carolina Exteriors and Village Furniture House and markets all three stores as Cannon Village Furniture Mall.

Vanderburg closed his stores in Concord, Salisbury and Charlotte due to the popularity of the furniture mall in Kannapolis and because the furniture industry – both manufacturing and retail sales – have been in decline for the past six years, he said.

“It makes it rough trying to stay in business,” Vanderburg said.

K-Town Furniture owns 5 acres on Dale Earnhardt Boulevard, where its warehouse is located.

Vanderburg and Morrison said they purchased the property in 1984 in anticipation of future growth.

Plans are to build a new showroom near the warehouse and move K-Town Furniture, Carolina Interiors and Village Furniture House there.

“If we locate to that place, we have have the heaviest traffic coming through town,” Vanderburg said. “Our customers have made this all possible. We want to continue to serve the people.”

• Contact Ben McNeely: 704-789-9131.