Why do customers come to Gallery Furniture, and keep coming back? The best answers come from our customers! Here are some of their stories.
As I posted Sunday, a television sent from Gallery Furniture to a soldier from Houston and his unit in Iraq arrived in time for them to see the Super Bowl. Today, I have a picture of Sgt. Aaron Simmons and his team at their base with the TV.
In an email, Sgt. Simmons said that he was sorry for the delay in sending a picture, but that immediately after the game his team was sent out on a mission and they didn't get back until just before noon Monday, Houston time.
That's okay with me!
I'm just happy that the TV got to Sgt. Simmons and his team on time and in good condition.
For more on Sgt. Simmons and the Super Bowl, click the links to review previous posts on the blog.
Part One | Part Two
I'm glad that Gallery Furniture has been able to play a role in making sure a Houston native and the soldiers in his team got to see the Super Bowl even though they are in a forward position in Iraq.
Thanks to the many men and women of the U.S. Army in Iraq who helped make sure Sgt. Simmons could get to the Baghdad airport to pick up the television and get back to his base in time for the game. And a very big thank you to retired Col. Suzie Barlow, who burned up the telephone lines and Internet between Houston and Baghdad to locate the sergeant, to make sure the TV was delivered to the Baghdad airport and coordinated the transportation of the TV and Sgt. Simmons in Iraq.
Without their help this story would not have a happy ending.
And of course the biggest thank you to Sgt. Aaron Simmons and all of the men and women in uniform who give up the comforts of home to go where their country sends them. We all owe them so much more than just a chance to see a football game.
--Mack
Good news from Iraq! The television that Gallery Furniture sent to a Houston soldier and his unit is there and they'll be watching the Super Bowl on it Sunday night!
I got an email from Sgt. Aaron Simmons telling me that he had just gotten back from his trip to Baghdad to pick up the TV and that it was working great. That's good news to hear.
This long distance story began two weeks ago when I got a letter from Sgt. Simmons. In it, he said that his unit would not be able to watch the Super Bowl because there was no television at their position. He asked if Gallery Furniture could help him. As I posted here earlier, Gallery Furniture could help.
It took a team to do it and a lot of help from retired Col. Suzie Barlow who emailed and telephoned Army contacts in Iraq and elsewhere to find Sgt. Simmons since all l had on the letter was a military postal address. The Colonel found him, and arranged for the television to be picked up at the Baghdad airport after it was shipped out by Federal Express.
The package arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday and another round of phone calls and emails from the Colonel arranged to have it released to Sgt. Simmons and get him and a vehicle to the airport in time.
It was close -- but the sergeant and his unit have the TV in time.
All the effort, especially from the Colonel, has been worth it. I'm happy that Gallery Furniture could make this a Super weekend for some of the brave young people who are in harm's way on behalf of their country.
Gallery Furniture has gotten some attention for this and I'm grateful for that. KPRC and KRIV TV have both done stories about the television shipment. Here are links to KPRC and KRIV's stories on their web sites.
The Colonel and I were also interviewed for Sibley Cooley's cable show on veteran's matters.
As I said, I'm grateful for the coverage because it brings attention to the young folks in uniform and makes us all aware of the things we can do to help them out.
That's why Gallery Furniture has furnished and decorated the USO Centers at Houston Hobby Airport and in Gulfport, Mississippi. That's why Gallery Furniture will be replacing the furniture at USO Centers around the country over the next few years until all of them are comfortable reminders of home for all of these heroes who serve their country.
Gallery Furniture makes another satisfied customer! Catalina came to our store with her family and was excited to shop with us. They have been shopping at Gallery Furniture for a while and have bought a lot of their furniture here. This time their purchase was different.
Catalina has a birthday coming up on the 16th of February. She and her family went to another store where they saw furniture they liked. When they asked for it to be delivered on the 16th, they were told that it will have to be delivered several days after that.
Catalina said no and came to Gallery Furniture. She found everything she wanted with the help of sales associate Charlie. He'd helped them before so Catalina asked for him again and he took care of everything that she needed. Catalina's family could not have been happier with their furniture. They bought dining room furniture, accent tables for the living room, and a chair with an ottoman. Not only did they get great furniture, but they are having their furniture delivered on time!
(Catalina, her family, Charlie, Mack)
Catalina's story proves what I've said before -- there's no need to go to some other Houston furniture store when you know you'll find great furniture at great prices at Gallery Furniture and there'll be no back order slips or waiting for delivery! Gallery Furniture will save you money and get your furniture to your tonight!
You never know what is going to happen when you come to Gallery Furniture! Customer Toni found that out when she came looking for new furniture. Well, on her way out, she noticed that her tire was flat and did not know what to do.
Toni was on a short time frame and she had to be in a meeting very soon. Two of Gallery Furniture sales team, Fabian and Omar, came to her rescue! It was a pretty wet day at the time, but our salespeople are always up for anything.
Toni says she has shopped at other Houston furniture stores, but keeps coming back to Gallery Furniture because as I've said for twenty six years, you can get your furniture TODAY! Toni doesn't like waiting for six to eight weeks to have new furniture delivered, especially if it is damaged when it gets there. Her experiences have always been great at Gallery Furniture. And thanks to Fabian and Omar, there was an extra bit of service this time.
Gallery Furniture is always ready and willing to help have our customers have a great shopping experience and to get home safely as well!
(Omar, Toni, Fabian)
As a child, most Houstonians remember growing up and seeing this very enthusiastic man jumping up and screaming "Save You Money!" Marisela was one of those kids watching those Mattress Mack commercials.
Marisela never forgot those commercials as she got older. When she was in college, one of her professors gave her my "Big Idea" book and she says it was inspirational to her.
Gallery Furniture was the first place she stopped when it was time for new furniture. She purchased a Children's Bedroom Set for her kid's room in the families new home! She was moving and she remembered reading about the store and so that is why she chose Gallery Furniture.
Gallery Furniture always welcomes every person that comes in our store and will keep striving to make everyone of those customers leave with a smile and a great experience! Even if you didn't grow up in Houston and just found out about Gallery Furniture recently, come on by and let us save you money on new furniture. And remember, at Gallery Furniture, if you buy it today you can have it in your home tonight!
(Mack, Maldenado, Marisela, Mya, Fabian)
When a Houston couple bought their dream vacation home in Hawaii, they came to Gallery Furniture for the quality furnishings to fill it. It might have been easier to buy what they wanted on the West Coast or in Hawaii, but they knew Gallery Furniture and the kind of customer service they could expect.
The couple -- I won't use their names in this blog to protect their privacy and the security of their home -- chose a house full of furniture, including items from the Kreiss collection. The next challenge was to get it from Houston to the island of Maui and set up in their new house. That's a little out of our usual delivery area, of course, so this delivery had to go the extra mile -- a lot of extra miles.
The answer was to load everything into a container and ship it to Hawaii. A Gallery Furniture delivery team, Roy and Justin, would meet the container in Hawaii, unload it, and set up the furniture.
And that's what Gallery Furniture did. Our customers had met Roy before, on a Houston delivery, and knew he would do a good job, so they asked him to stay in the Maui house while setting up the furniture.
As Roy put it, this was the longest distance he had gone on a delivery. And one of the most beautiful places to deliver to, as you can see in the photographs at the bottom of this entry.
The container was parked at the bottom of the driveway to the house. Unfortunately, that was downhill from the house, so the Gallery guys had to carry everything up the hill to the house.
But they got it done, and with the new furniture the house looks like one that would be featured in a magazine.
Good job Roy and Justin.
Gallery Furniture can make your home beautiful too, and you'll get the same kind of service whether your house is in Maui or Montgomery. The Gallery delivery team will go the extra mile and over the top to get your new furniture in your home today!
A package from Gallery Furniture is on its way to Iraq with a television set, DVD player, and the other things that will be necessary to allow soldiers from Texas to see the Super Bowl February 3. It's something I was able -- and happy to do for the troops.
It started with a letter from Sgt. Aaron Simmons, now serving in Baghdad, who told me his unit had been looking for a way to get a TV so they could see the game. Gallery Furniture had the television of course, the challenge was getting it to Sgt. Simmons and his buddies.
That's where our friend Colonel Suzie Barlow came in. She's an organizing genius who knows how to get things done, and in no time she had located Sgt. Simmons and his unit and found a way for Gallery Furniture to ship the television by Federal Express to Baghdad and get the sergeant there to pick it up.
The television will be on the ground Tuesday, in plenty of time for the troops to see the big game Sunday, February 3.
Thanks to the folks at KPRC-TV, Channel 2, for talking about this last night. You can see their story on their site Click2Houston. A crew from FOX26 KRIV-TV , the station carrying the game, has also talked to me about this for a story later this week.
And while I'm on the subject of television news, I was on KTRK-TV, ABC 13, being interviewed in a story they did about the state of the local economy. That story is posted on their web site.
-- Mack
Bill and Gayla came to Gallery Furniture from Texas City with an amazing story about a deal that sounded too good to be true. You can guess how it turned out.
Bill and Gayla have shopped at Gallery Furniture in the past, but this time something caught their eye -- a TV commercial for The Dump that said two years with no interest and no down payment financing.
They decided to get in the car and make the drive to check it out. (The Dump is north of Gallery Furniture so it's a long drive from Texas City.) Gayla says she asked Bill "Why don't we just stop at Gallery?" but they decided to check out the great deal they had seen.
They arrived at the Dump and started looking for furniture for their second home. After five hours of shopping, they had the salesperson get everything ready for their financing. Bill and Gayla know their credit and keep it in good standing, but for some reason it took over an hour for the finance department to process their application. When everything was done Bill and Gayla were told that they could not get financed for more than 2000 dollars and they could use that as a deposit and make monthly payments of 156 dollars for 18 months!
That was it for them. They decided to give Gallery Furniture a try. It could not have worked out better for them. They came here and were approved for more than enough credit to purchase the furniture they wanted. Salesmen Campos assisted them and had them in and out in about 30 minutes with everything they needed and big smiles on their faces.
Making the shopping experience fast and easy is what Gallery Furniture is all about. Gallery Furniture strives every day to give our customers great service, great prices, and to work harder for you so you don't have to work at all!
Campos, Gayla, Mack, and Bill
LeRoy and Raquel are long time residents of Houston. They came Gallery Furniture after shopping at other Houston furniture stores just to see what they could find. But in the end, they came back to Gallery Furniture. This time they were helped by Roy, one of our great salespeople. As LeRoy put it, "Roy is an awesome guy, he makes you feel warm as soon as you walk in the door, he is not pushy, he lets you look around and lets you decide what you want to buy, he made it really easy to be able to afford what we wanted to buy."
This time Raquel and Le Roy bough new bedroom furniture. They play to show it off to family and friends, and recommend Gallery Furniture as well. "You don't have to second guess your purchase to make sure the quality is good. You expect quality when you shop at Gallery Furniture, also the people are so friendly, and there are those little perks that make you feel like you get a little more than what you paid for. My overall shopping experience was awesome, it was very good."
LeRoy and Raquel may have shopped at other stores, but they ended up at Gallery Furniture.
Make Gallery your first and last stop when you're looking for new furniture. That way you won't waste valuable time checking out the other guys!
More Customer Stories: 2008, Part 1 December 2007, Part 1 | December 2007, Part 2 | December 2007, Part 3 | December 2007, Part 4 |