originated in the downtown section of Raleigh, North Carolina in 1925 when two merchants joined together to form an appliance and lighting company. When doors were opened, there were towns in the surrounding area that had only acquired electricity a few years earlier. The business moved from the downtown district to Cameron Village in 1978. Cameron Village, completed in 1949, was the first shopping center of its kind in the southeastern United States. The family has owned businesses, including a children's clothing store, a long-established soda shop, and a restaurant within the complex since it first opened. We called the shopping mecca home for 33 years.