When I lived north of Charlotte I did a little business with The Right Gear in Kannapolis. I never shopped them for a bike but did use them for a couple of repairs that I didn't feel competent to do and bought some accessories from them. Seemed to carry a nice mix of bikes and seemed customer friendly to me.

Here is a thread from the Southeast forum that pertains to Charlotte area shops. It's geared toward road bikes but maybe you'll find it useful.

I also did some business with Friendly bikes in Greensboro. Again wasn't buying a bike just some accessories.

I know that Raleigh has quite a few good bike shops.

You might try posting a similar thread in the Southeast forum and give the members an idea of where you would consider going to shop.

Good Luck with your search.