As such, it is all the more astonishing that the local family business of Whitley Galleries has managed this feat three times: Family members are in their fourth generation, and the furniture store is more than 100 years old.

The company started in 1909 as a simple general store, founded by Jeff Whitley. When he died in 1924, his son C.V. took the helm. A veteran of World War II, C.V. brought the "professionalization" needed when moving from the first to the second generation of a family business. During the Great Depression, C.V. extended his leadership by consolidating the business around furniture.

The company almost did not make it to the third generation, however. Charles Whitley, the grandson of Jeff Whitley, had been groomed to take over the company from his father. Tragically he was killed while fighting as a paratrooper in Belgium during World War II. With the eldest son gone, the future of the company seemed in doubt. So when C.V. began discussing that he had to sell the business to retire, his daughter Nancy and her husband, Amos, an industrial engineer working for Burlington Industries, stepped up to continue the legacy of Whitley Galleries.

Though the first and second generations had done well, it was Amos who really put Whitley Galleries on the map. He extended the reach of the company beyond its local market and focused on the importance of introducing innovative products. In fact, it is believed that Amos brought the very first La-Z-Boy recliners to North Carolina in the 1960s.

After the company expanded for more than 30 years, it was time to pass the baton again. Amos and Nancy's son, Charles, having grown up working at the family business, succeeded his father to manage the business. Some years later, Charles' sister Nelle Carroll, a design school graduate with high-end architectural design experience, joined the company to continue Whitley's leadership in furniture design.

Charles and Nelle credit the survival and growth of the company over these many years to their providing unique products and investing aggressively in marketing. "When the economy turned down a few years ago and many other competitors cut their marketing budgets, we kept our foot on the gas of our promotions," Charles says.

One place you may have seen their large ads is in the RBC Center.

Today Whitley Galleries sells a wide range of furniture products, including such respected brands as Paula Deen and Ty Pennington.

About 75 percent of the furniture they sell is custom made, and a large proportion of their product is made in the U.S. Located just outside Raleigh in Zebulon, a town with a population of about 4,500, Whitley Galleries draws customers from all over North Carolina.

Internally, Whitley has also always maintained a strong belief in financial discipline.

First thing each morning, an hour before the front door is unlocked, a full review of the previous day's sales, inventory, orders and cash is conducted. Weekly, a more comprehensive performance review is held, and then each month an in-depth and comparative analysis is performed.

Nelle and Charles always know exactly where they are financially at all times.

Dramatically symbolizing this financial discipline over the generations is their cash register. Their great-grandfather and company founder Jeff bought the top of the line "POS system" available in 1916, a cash register from National Cash Register, now NCR. It has been used by each successive generation, and is in use today as a cash box.

However, what has also enabled the family business to thrive through the years is the omnipresence of their "CEO," in this case meaning Chief Emotional Officer. Nell Whitley, the wife of the second generation president C.V., had been the sounding board, open ear, and matriarch of the Whitley family for four generations.

Born in 1899 and having died in 2000, Nell not only bore witness to three centuries but may have been the hand guiding the Whitley family business to the success it is today.

Columnist Henry Hutcheson is a family business speaker, author and consultant with ReGeneration Partners in Raleigh.