- Gallery Furniture
Gallery Furniture is a local Houston furniture store that was founded in April 1981 by
Jim McIngvale . The company’s owner, Jim McIngvale, commonly known as “Mattress Mack”, began with only $5000 and was soon selling furniture by use of model homes and tents on the side of the North Freeway; he has since grown his business into a huge one-stop furniture store for Houstonians. ["Mattress Mac Saves You Money." "The-Best-Mattresses.com" Sept. 2007 14 June 2008The company’s growth has reflected the vast growth of the city of Houston, in which it accounts for up to 18% of the retail furniture sales in Houston, TX. [Hoovers 360 Business Facts at
Community Involvement
Gallery Furniture has consistently emphasized involvement in the community. The store’s owner,
Jim McIngvale , clearly values the ability to affect the community in a positive way and has dedicated large amounts of time and resources to doing so. His emphasis on involvement has carried over into the company.On a global scale, Gallery Furniture has begun an aggressive campaign to refurnish, redesign, and revitalize the over 130 USO Centers around the world. Gallery Furniture started with the USO Center at Houston's Hobby Airpot, and as a result Mr. McIngvale decided "let's redo them all." This unique partnership with the USO will contribute the bulk of the charitable and donation efforts of Gallery Furniture through 2010, with the exception of their yearly Christmas Giveaway program. As a result of this endeavor, Gallery Furniture of Houston has become a USO World Wide Stratgeic Partenr Sponsor [See the USO WorldWide Strategic Partner Page
Annually, Gallery Furniture offers a Christmas Furniture Giveaway where the friends and family of those in need are encouraged to write letters to Gallery Furniture explaining the specific needs of a particular loved one or member of their community. As the letters are received, a committee of Gallery Furniture employees reads and reviews each to select a number of the most deserving families. These families are then contacted by Gallery Furniture and given a donation of furniture. ["Holiday Gift." "Chron.com" 20 Dec. 2007 14 June 2008
Gallery Furniture also participates in many other community service programs by way of donations and hands-on service. For example, Gallery Furniture participates in the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) walk campaign in Houston and
Jim McIngvale served as honorary chair for the Houston NAMI Walk 2008. [NAMI Houston Web Site showing Gallery Furniture ParticipationMarketing and Merchandising
Gallery Furniture has grown over the years from simple print ads to television and radio to the full embrace of today’s social networking sites including [http://www.facebook.com/s.php?q=jim+mcingvale+gallery+furniture&n=-1&k=400000000010&init=r Facebook] and [http://www.myspace.com/galleryfurniture MySpace] . By use of past and modern forms of advertisement, Gallery Furniture is better able to reach a large, more diverse group, thus heightening viewer awareness of the store, products, and services. The marketing efforts have also included sports franchise promotional materials and work within merchandising parameters with vendors such as
Sony andTempur-Pedic .Gallery Furniture also houses a wide variety of
Elvis memorabilia, collectables, and sports memorabilia acquired byJim McIngvale and displayed for the enjoyment of customers and employees alike. The store also features a Woodforest Banking Center and a dining facility available for use by customers (free meal with purchase) and employees. With respect to its furniture line, Gallery Furniture offers a wide range of furniture styles, from traditional to transitional to contemporary. The vast array of furniture includes many styles to suit many price ranges – a fact made possible by the wide range of furniture; included in the selection are items such as the eco-friendly Mango Wood furniture and the high end furniture styles of Kreiss, as well as items in the Gallery Furniture outlet center.In keeping with the corporate traditions of the owner
Jim McIngvale , Gallery Furniture also showcases three sleep systems: Hästens, Tempur-Pedic, and the Peaceful Sleep System (a system whose design and creation process was aided by Gallery Furniture’s own personnel).In addition to the wide variety of furniture and sleep systems, Gallery Furniture holds a large selection of electronics, including customizable home theater solutions, further laying credence to their claim as a one-stop furniture store for Houstonians. From a marketing perspective, they may not always have customized furniture the same day, but their literature states that most custom leather orders fall into a “seven days or it is free” category.Ownership and Management
The company, founded in April of 1981, is still in the hands of the original owner,
Jim McIngvale , who has become a well known businessman and philanthropist in Houston. Gallery Furniture is separated into several divisions dedicated to serving the customer quickly, efficiently, and completely (all held to the TODAY standard). These divisions include Sales, Cashiers, Warehouse, Delivery, Customer Service, Inventory Control and Tagging, Data Processing, Yard Staff & Furniture Movers, as well as the Marketing & E-Commerce Division. Each unique division works with every other towards the goals of their TODAY standard.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
