10/07/2026
We need your help. As many of you know there is a new NCDOT N.E. Maynard Road grade separation project currently being reviewed until 10/27/26. We need our customers and friends more than ever right now to go to the NCDOT Website and help us keep our legacy and history alive! WE have been here 97 years and there has to be an alternative.
AN OPEN LETTER TO NCDOT, THE TOWN OF CARY, AND OUR COMMUNITY
From Alex White and the Employees of Cooper's Furniture To our customers, neighbors, community leaders, and the North Carolina Department of Transportation:
For nearly 97 years, Cooper's Furniture has been more than a place where people buy furniture. It has been the livelihood of generations of owners and employees, a familiar place for generations of customers, and for more than 75 years, part of the Cary community we call home. Today, we are asking for your help in making sure that story does not have to end. NCDOT is considering plans for the N.E. Maynard Road grade-separation project at East Chatham Street. We understand why transportation improvements are needed, and we support responsible efforts to improve traffic and safety. But both concepts currently presented by NCDOT would result in the loss of Cooper's Furniture.
We believe there should be one more question before that happens: Is there another way? This Is Our home, Not Just Our Business!
Cooper's Furniture began in downtown Raleigh and moved to the Cary community in 1949, in part because we wanted customers to be able to shop conveniently without having to pay for downtown parking. Our family has been part of the historic Cary community for two generations. The current owners were born in North Carolina and raised here in the Cary community. For me personally, this business represents much more than an investment. I worked at Cooper's for 28 years before I had the opportunity to purchase it. Some of the employees working beside me today have been with Cooper's for decades. We have spent a significant part of our lives here. We watched Cary grow and change. We have helped customers furnish their first apartments, their first homes, their children's rooms and, years later, sometimes their children's homes. Those relationships cannot simply be packed into a moving truck.
Why We Cannot Simply "Move Somewhere Else" The Cooper family owns the property where Cooper's operates. That fact is one of the reasons an independent furniture store like ours has been able to survive for almost a century. Our business model is intentionally different.
Our employees can earn a moderate salary rather than depending primarily on commissions. That means when you walk into Cooper's, you can look around, ask questions and take your time. Our employees do not have to pressure you into buying something because their paycheck depends on closing the next sale. We want to keep it that way. Owning of the property also helps us keep our overhead under control so we can continue offering quality furniture at low prices.
Based on the commercial market we are seeing today, comparable leased space could cost us more than $50,000 every month - or more than $600,000 a year. That is not simply another expense. It could fundamentally change - or end - the business model that has allowed Cooper's to survive for generations.
Before Our Building Is Lost, Please Exhaust Every Reasonable Alternative We are asking NCDOT to sit down with us and take a detailed, property-specific look at Cooper's.
We want to understand exactly why our building must come down. Is it because of the roadway itself? Is it grading? Right-of-way? A permanent or temporary easement? Drainage? Utilities? Another engineering requirement?
Once we know the answer, we are asking NCDOT to determine whether that problem can be solved differently. Could a retaining wall reduce the amount of land needed? Could grading limits be reduced? Could an easement be modified? Could drainage or utilities be relocated? Could a localized design adjustment preserve the building?
We are not engineers, and we are not claiming that any one of these ideas will solve the problem. We are simply asking that every reasonable engineering alternative be exhausted before a 97-year-old business is eliminated.
If there truly is no way to save Cooper's, we deserve to understand why. Show us why the building must come down and then work with us to see whether that problem can be solved another way.
This Is Bigger Than Cooper's We are also concerned about what these changes could mean for the broader East Chatham Street business community, including the area around Chatham Square and Patel Brothers.
This part of Cary has grown into a wonderfully diverse shopping community being considered the international hub of Cary. Its restaurants, grocery stores, retailers and specialty businesses serve South Asian, Latino and many other families and communities throughout Cary and the Triangle. Behind every storefront are employees, families, customers, investments and years of hard work.
As Cary continues to grow, we believe progress should include making every reasonable effort to preserve the businesses and communities that helped make Cary what it is today.
If We Truly Cannot Stay in this building, Give Cooper's a Realistic Chance to Continue Our first choice is simple: We want to stay where we are.
But if every reasonable engineering alternative is examined and NCDOT ultimately determines that our property must be acquired, then we believe there needs to be a realistic path for Cooper's Furniture to continue. We are not asking to profit from a transportation project. We are asking not to lose what generations of people have built. We believe the owners should receive fair market value and all compensation available under applicable law, while recognizing the real-world challenge of finding suitable property and constructing another owner-occupied facility. Simply telling Cooper's to rent another commercial building is not an economically equivalent solution when comparable rent could exceed $50,000 per month. If our current building truly cannot be saved, we want a realistic opportunity to acquire suitable property and build a replacement Cooper's Furniture location so our employees can keep their jobs, our customers can continue shopping with us, and this business can reach its 100th anniversary and hopefully many anniversaries beyond it.
We Are Asking Our Community to Speak Up NCDOT is accepting public comments on the project through October 27, 2026.
We encourage our customers, neighboring businesses, employees, friends and members of the Cary community to learn about the project and share their own thoughts. We aren't asking anyone to oppose progress. We are asking you to support the idea that progress and preservation should be considered together. Tell NCDOT that established local businesses matter. Tell them about Cary's diverse East Chatham Street business community matters. Ask them to examine retaining walls and other engineering alternatives that could reduce displacement. And ask them to work directly with the people whose businesses and livelihoods are affected before deciding that those businesses must disappear.
Public comments can be submitted through NCDOT's project page: https://publicinput.com/w8761
For nearly 97 years, people have kept Cooper's Furniture alive. Owners have taken risks. Employees have devoted decades of their lives to the company. Customers have chosen to shop locally and returned generation after generation. We would like the opportunity to keep that story going
We aren't asking Cary to choose between progress and Cooper's Furniture. We're asking NCDOT to work with us to see whether we can have both.
With gratitude, Alex White Owner, Cooper's Furniture and the Employees of Cooper's Furniture Cary, North Carolina
