HOUSTON — Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale is well-known for the three-store furniture business he and his wife have built over the past 40 years here. Mattress, after all, is the leading part of his nickname.
Under McIngvale’s hard-charging tutelage, the Top 100 retailer consistently tops its industry peers with its sales per square foot, a key marker for the retail business. A consummate pitchman, McIngvale is the face of Gallery Furniture in all of its marketing and promotions as he touts the company’s free delivery, same-day delivery and saving the consumer money.
The retailer’s success is well-documented, of course, but in addition to McIngvale’s iconic status in the Houston market and the mattress industry at large, he has remained a stalwart philanthropic leader pushing others to do good deeds and give back as they can.
Starting with basics
McIngvale’s foray into the furniture business began after college when he spent time working at a furniture store in North Texas. During his tenure there, he gleaned business strategies, learned the business and a seed was planted that began his deep passion for the industry. A former collegiate football player, his competitive drive inspired him to open his own furniture store.
He and Linda relocated to Houston, and armed with $5,000, the couple opened its first furniture store in an abandoned model home park located off the busy North Freeway.
Since that very first day in 1981, McIngvale has instilled the company with a community-first focus, and that approach remains a deep-rooted part of the corporate ethos. Giving back and supporting a community was engrained in McIngvale at a young age by his father, and that tenet is one of the key pillars on which Gallery Furniture operates.
McIngvale’s tenacity and marketing skills have helped boost Gallery Furniture’s reputation in the market as the go-to retailer for mattresses and home furnishings. From his perch near the front door, McIngvale greets consumers and is known to shout out specials over the store’s loud speaker. He is also on the floor helping his team move furniture.
“I love the bedding industry and the fact that it benefits each and every customer we serve,” he said. “It’s incumbent on all of us to promote the benefits of a great night’s sleep. When people sleep better, they live better. We need to be mattress evangelists and evangelize the benefits of sleep.”
The Gallery Furniture experience has been honed to give consumers an exciting shopping experience that includes a number of exotic animals, a children’s play area, and cookies and ice cream that all combine for a family-driven shopping environment.
This year, Furniture Today salutes McIngvale’s 40-year career in the mattress industry by naming him the seventh winner of the Lifetime Bedding Achievement Award. He joins past winners: Rick Anderson, Kevin Toman, Gary Fazio, Ed Lilly, Harry Cornell and Earl Kluft.
“Selling mattresses has been my life,” he said, adding that it all started on that former home lot. “We started selling mattresses and more mattresses and more, and today we have three stores and a busy website.
“I’m thrilled to be honored with this award because mattresses have been an essential category for Gallery over the past 40 years,” he added. “Mattresses are the key category that has allowed Gallery Furniture to grow and prosper over the years.”
Legacy of service
McIngvale’s success has allowed Gallery Furniture to contribute to the Houston-area community in a number of ways. His community-first approach is symbolic of what he wants Gallery to symbolize.
In addition to contributing to scholarship programs and a significant number of local charities, Gallery Furniture has furnished a number of USO centers around the world. McIngvale’s commitment to helping where he can has not gone unnoticed in the Houston market, in the industry and across the country.
McIngvale’s big heart was on full display most recently when a rare winter storm crippled the state of Texas in February. The storm delivered subfreezing temperatures and overwhelmed the state’s electricity infrastructure, causing widespread power outages. About 4.5 million Texas homes and businesses were without power for days.
The Gallery Furniture team opened two stores and welcomed those who needed a warm place to sleep and a warm meal to come to find a comfortable respite in the stores. McIngvale launched the concept of the stores as safe haven from storms in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina took aim in the Gulf Coast primarily impacting New Orleans. Thousands of people were evacuated to Houston, and Gallery Furniture was ready.
Hurricane Harvey came for Houston in 2017 dumping more than 40 inches of rain over a four-day period, and again, Gallery was up to the challenge. The team opened the doors and gave shelter to more than 800 people during the floods that ravaged Texas. He sheltered and fed first responders and others who needed a safe, dry place to stay.
Last summer, the retailer partnered with nonprofit group WorkTexas to form the Gallery Furniture Resource Center and help the Houston area recover from the repercussions of COVID-19.
Designed to address four needs in the area, Gallery Furniture, in partnership with WorkTexas and local officials, hosted free food distributions, mental health services, high school and vocational schooling, and career development.
McIngvale and his wife also have been huge advocates of mental health since their daughter, Elizabeth McIngvale, was diagnosed at age 12 with severe obsessive compulsive disorder. She eventually learned how to manage it and founded the Peace of Mind Foundation to help others deal with mental illness.
After suffering multiple mini-strokes, McIngvale funded a mobile stroke unit in Houston. In honor of his father and brother, who died of congestive heart failure, McIngvale has donated millions in recent years to fund the research and development of a total artificial heart.
McIngvale’s good deeds have not gone unnoticed. Within the industry, he has been honored by the City of Hope and in 2019, he was inducted into the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame.
In 2013, McIngvale received the Daily Point of Light award from President George H. W. Bush for his philanthropic endeavors in public education, Thanksgiving dinners for those in need, and buying and distributing 10,000 holiday toys for children in need. Founded by President Bush, Points of Life is an organization dedicated to volunteer service.
The same passion McIngvale has for his community and humankind is matched by his enthusiasm for the mattress and furniture business. His energy is contagious, and like the Energizer Bunny, he says he is going to keep going.
“I’m 70 years old, and I’m going to go on for another 30 years,” he said, adding that he is “selling mattresses, making people happy and delivering the mattresses free, free, free within three or four hours to make sure they sleep well tonight because I truly believe a mattress is the best investment a person can make.”
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Mattress Mack honored with Bedding Conference Lifetime Achievement Award - Furniture Today
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