Mack Spreads the Word on Basic Principles

May 22, 2002: Mattress Mack -- Every few minutes throughout the day in Houston, the voice of "Mattress Mack" can be heard in a commercial somewhere on the dial.  Jim McIngvale sells $200 million worth of furniture annually, and as Ed Mayberry reports, he's trying to spread the word about some basic principles he sees at work.  Click here to listen. 

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The Business Makers Episode 4

Jim McIngvale, Gallery Furniture

To say that Jim “Mattress Mac” McIngvale is a Houston icon is an understatement. Jim is the founder and owner of Gallery Furniture, one of the largest retail stores in America. How large is it? With only 1 store McInvale averages $150 million dollars a year! Mac is well known for his animated television commerical spots, which end with his yelling “Save You Money”. Mac join Russ and John to talk about his career playing “bench” at the University of Texas, selling furniture in Dallas and how he started Gallery furniture with $5000 and 2 employees.

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Mattress Mack Ep 1

They say everything’s bigger in Texas. That would include championship tennis and furniture stores. And furniture magnate Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, perhaps the biggest tennis fan in Texas, has to go down as one of the game’s most influential personalities of all time. Even if you haven’t heard of his furniture business, chances are you’ve heard of his Westside Tennis Club, also known in recent years as the home of the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup. Want to see how he promotes the game year-round? Have the time to wander his enormous furniture showroom in Houston, complete with playground and tennis court? And just what do stars Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick have to say about the tennis contribution of the man forever known as “Mattress Mack”? There’s only one place to find out.

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Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale speaks to TiE in Houston

Jim's talk, "The Challenges of Entrepreneurship - "I did it my way", was held at The Petroleum Club of Houston on October 26, 2006.

Askok Rao, President of TiE Houston, The IndUS Entrepreneurs, introduced the evening's speaker.

James F. McIngvale and his wife Linda are co-owners of Gallery Furniture in Houston, Texas. “Mattress Mack”, as he is known throughout Texas, started Gallery Furniture in 1981 with five thousand dollars and a dream. That dream has grown into one of the most successful businesses in Houston and the single most successful furniture store in the United States. The success of Gallery Furniture is truly embodied by Mack’s strong commitment to hard work, customer service and grassroots marketing. Mack was born on February 11th, 1951 in Starkville, Mississippi. He graduated from Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas, and attended college at the University of Texas and North Texas State University. He played football at both universities under legendary coaches Darrell Royal and Hayden Fry.

A combination of his extensive philanthropy, daily speaking engagements, and his television commercials for Gallery Furniture have made him one of the most respected and recognizable people in Houston. In addition to his busy schedule at Gallery Furniture, Mack donates a substantial amount of his time to the Houston community that has treated him so well over the years. He has made well over 2,000 speeches to area school children about the importance of staying in school, believing in yourself, and saying no to drugs. He has given in excess of $1 Million to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship Fund. Annually, he donates furniture to refurnish dozens of neglected teachers’ lounges throughout Southeast Texas. Each Christmas, he furnishes the homes of fifteen Houston-area families that have been the victims of personal tragedy. During the great flood of 2001, Gallery Furniture was one of the leading businesses in assisting Houstonians in need, and spearheaded numerous assistance programs in addition to donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to the American Red Cross and other organizations. On November 10th, 2000, he received the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s prestigious Patriots’ Award in recognition of outstanding community service.

His adoption of the management principles of the late Dr. W. Edwards Deming and his years of study with Dr. Deming have made him a sought-after speaker on quality and management philosophy. Government and private enterprises from around the world regularly send representatives to Gallery Furniture to study Mack’s innovative business philosophies in action. Jim McIngvale and his wife Linda own Westside Tennis Club, which is the only tennis club to offer all four authentic grand slam surfaces. The McIngvales and Westside Tennis Club have been hosts to the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships since 2001, the U.S. Davis Cup Tie vs. Spain and the prestigious Tennis Masters Cup. Recently, the McIngvales used their influence and resources for a very noteworthy cause. Following the wake of the devastating tsunami in Southeast Asia, the President of the United States asked Presidents Bush and Clinton to head up a nationwide charitable effort forming the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Relief Fund. President Bush asked Jim and Linda McIngvale to step forward and help lead the Houston area response for the relief effort. As a result, over $12 million was raised for the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Relief Fund. The McIngvales have continued their fundraising efforts to assist those affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But if you ask Mack and Linda about their greatest accomplishments, you would see a sparkle in their eyes and a smile on their faces as they tell you about their three children, James, Laura, and Elizabeth.

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Mack Helps Raise Relief Funds

McIngvale, who is helping to lead a private effort to raise $100 million in relief funds, spoke about his belief that, from those to whom much has been given, much is expected. He praised the work of those at the health science center and Texas Medical Center who use their talents to help those affected by the tsunami.

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Mack Donates to UNT Athletic Center

UNT alumnus Jim McIngvale (center) was recognized at the Feb. 12 Mean Green men's basketball game for his $1 million contribution to the university to help fund a new athletic center. Rick Villarreal, athletic director, and North Texas Dancers including Natalie Cox presented McIngvale with an artist's rendering of the building.

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Gallery Furniture Houston Business Journal Outstanding Large Corporation

Gallery Furniture owner Jim McIngvale is the consummate role model for philanthropy and community involvement, both through his personal donations of time and money and through generous contributions from Gallery Furniture. McIngvale applied his dynamic personality to lead fundraising efforts for victims of the Asian Tsunami disaster and for victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The store's recent $3 million gift to the College will fund research into obsessive-compulsive disorder.

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Mack Lets Evacuees Stay at Gallery Furniture

Update 3: Here comes Matress Mac. He’s “letting frustrated evacuees spend several nights at his Gallery Furniture store in north Houston. “We’ve decided to open our doors up. Some of the people have run out of money for hotel rooms,” said Gallery Furniture owner Jim McIngvale. McIngvale also provided food for those displaced families.” Mac rocks!

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Donation to The Roger Clemens Foundation

Jim McIngvale at Gallery Furniture for the generous electronics and furniture donations.

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Mack Helps Fund KIPP

Other Houston-based funders to participate in this growth campaign include: The Brown Foundation ($2 million), the Fondren Foundation ($1 million), the Kinder Foundation ($1 million), Jim McIngvale ($1 million), the Rockwell Fund ($500,000), David Weekley ($500,000), the City of Houston ($500,000), Ann and Johnny Johnson ($250,000), and the M.D. Anderson Foundation ($250,000).

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Jim McIngvale and his wife Linda arrived in Houston, Texas in 1981 with $5,000 and “a dream”. The plan: to open a furniture store at the site Jim’s real estate agent brother had found them- an abandoned un-heated un-air conditioned model home park formerly occupied by a build-on-your-lot homebuilder. 1981 was the year of the great “oil boom” and the great bust in the auto and steel industries. Families from Michigan, Ohio and the rest of the “rust belt” loaded as many of their belongings in the backs of their cars and headed to Houston- the “land of opportunity”. They needed beds and furniture- any kind of beds and furniture. Jim and Linda McIngvale’s new enterprise—Gallery Furniture was there to sell low-end furniture to them as fast as he could get it in. They never borrowed money because no one would lend them any, so they kept plowing the profits back into buying more furniture. Then, just as fast as the “oil boom” had started, the “oil bust” came. Gallery Furniture’s customer base stopped moving to Houston. Sales came to a grinding halt.

Until that time, Gallery Furniture’s advertising consisted of little more than signs tacked to telephone poles. Jim McIngvale was down to his last $10,000. He decided to roll the dice and advertise on television. He bought low cost ad time on barely watched UHF stations--moving into a commercial rotation with ads for trade schools and workmen’s compensation lawyers aired during tired old sitcoms and the Saturday Night wrestling matches. He split the money in half. Half went to one station and the other half to another. One evening near midnight after closing the store, he went down to the television station to watch his commercial being produced. “Mack” didn’t like how the commercial was going and his studio time was running out fast. At the last minute, he took over as the pitchman and improvised for thirty seconds talking as fast as he could, extolling the virtues of Gallery Furniture. As the clock ticked down to the last seconds, he reached into his back pocket and retrieved that day’s store receipts, then held up the fistful of dollars, leapt into the air and shrieked that Gallery Furniture will “save you money!”

A star was born. A 1987 article in the Houston Post described seeing a Gallery Furniture commercial for the first time this way: There are some events in our life we never forget. Our first kiss. The day Elvis died. The landing on the moon, The first time we saw Jim “Mattress Mac” McIngvale jumping up and down in a Gallery Furniture television commercial, shaking a fist full of dollars and hollering something about “saving you moneeey”. “Who is this guy in Sansabelt slacks?” Sales jumped. In a short time sales had jumped 1000%. Every kid in town began jumping up and down and yelling “saves you money”. Some toddler’s first complete phrase was “save you money”. By 1987, sales were $25,000,000 for the year. Last year’s sales climbed to $200,000,000. All from one store at the same location that Gallery Furniture began. ,P. For a time, “Mattress Mack” advertised so much it was nearly impossible to turn on any television or radio station for more than 15 minutes without seeing a Gallery Furniture commercial. McIngvale is always trying new angles to put into his ubiquitous commercials. He appeared in a series of ads wearing a mattress and calling himself “Mattress Mack”. His young son appeared with him in a few ads, too, dressed in a mattress and calling himself “Mattress James”. Even though he hasn’t worn a mattress in some time, the name has stuck. Everyone in town still calls him “Mattress Mack”.

In the beginning, Gallery Furniture sold mostly low-end furniture to blue collar workers, but as the store became more successful, he started selling higher quality merchandise. Some people (aka yuppies) would rather not admit they bought their furniture at Gallery Furniture. One customer bought $3,000 worth of furniture and asked if it could be delivered in an un-marked truck. Rather than being insulted, Mattress Mack complied with their request, then, began advertising that he would deliver your furniture in an unmarked truck so that your neighbors wouldn’t know where it came from. He sold sleeper sofas with extra padding in the mattress and reminded viewers in his commercials about the experience everyone has had of sleeping at “Aunt Minerva’s” house with “that bar in your back all night.” Knowing that the bane of all furniture buyers is waiting for weeks or months for your furniture to arrive while you hold onto a back order slip. He promised that anything you found his store could be delivered to you that night, even if you showed up at closing time (10 pm) on Christmas Eve and it would take until 3 am to get it to you. He doesn't take special orders. If you see it on the floor of the store, you can have it in your home NOW!. A deal that is almost impossible to pass up. As much attention as you can garner buying advertising time, nothing beats the attention generated from the free publicity of getting mentioned on the 10 o’clock news or in the newspaper. Mattress Mack plunged head first into giving back to the community, which generates plenty of free publicity. It is a win-win situation. The community benefits and everyone stays aware of him and his business.

Every Christmas, he gives away households of furniture to needy families. For several years, he was high bidder for the grand champion animals raised by high school students at the Houston Livestock Show (spending close to a million dollars each year). The money went for awarding college scholarships. Jim gives several hundred speeches a year to almost any group that asks—telling his inspiring story of going from rags to riches. He built a practice facility for the Houston Rockets basketball team (which also receives visits from many NBA players who play in pick-up games during the off-season.) and is known as the Rockets number one fan. When Chuck Norris moved to Texas to start his KICK DRUGS OUT OF AMERICA program for high school students, Mattress Mack helped him. He even financed the Norris brother’s movie Sidekicks, which was filmed in Houston. “Mack” went to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and spent his own money to campaign for the 2008 Olympics to come to Houston. In June of 2001, when half of Houston was flooded, he bought all of the production overrun of the Simmons Mattress company, then sold the mattresses at half-price. He donated the money from Red Cross vouchers back to the Red Cross. He is an unabashed booster for the City of Houston. He says, “This town took Linda and me from crayons to perfume. I love this city. We owe it a lot for giving us the chance.” He gives several hundred speeches a year to community and school groups. Originally from Dallas, Jim McIngvale went to college at the University of Texas where he played football, though he mostly rode the bench. He was a member of the 1969 Longhorn’s national championship team. After college, he was involved in various unsuccessful endeavors and ended up almost 30 years old, broke, without a car and working in a convenience store. McIngvale says that he had a pretty bad attitude and spent most of his time in the store thumbing through the magazines and acting surly to the customers. Then, his boss did Jim a favor. He fired him.

Jim decided it was time for an attitude change. He got a job working for a furniture store on the other side of Dallas from where he lived. Not having a car, he had to spend hours taking several buses to get there and back. During this period, he learned the furniture business and developed better work habits. Inspired by the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, he decided to go into the furniture business for himself. This was when his brother living in Houston found the “perfect location for him”- the abandoned model home park. Jim asked Linda, his girlfriend at the time, to move to Houston with him. She said that she would only if he married her. He did and they did. Jim says the secret of his success is “Late to bed and early to rise, work like hell and advertise.” He admits he can be a tyrant to work for. “I do have a volatile temper and I tend to be too harsh,” he says. But, he doesn’t tell anyone to do anything he is not willing to do himself. You might see him holding up one end of a couch with a high school kid on the other end moving the couch to another part of the store. He still spends a great deal of his time at the store, because the customers expect to see him there. He has a desk near the front door where he can greet customers and a bank of television monitors so he can watch what is going on all over the store. Employees are required to work from opening to closing a certain number of days a week, but they can work as many extra hours as they want. They can come in at 7 am and unload the 18 wheelers bringing in new furniture. Near closing time, he asks for volunteers to do the late night delivery runs to all hours of the night. He supplies free meals for everyone (breakfast, lunch and dinner) but doesn’t allow sitting down to eat it. Employees must eat on the run while they are working. When asked why he never expanded to more than one store he says, “Because they can only steal so much while you’re watching.”

Gallery Furniture has been rebuilding over the last few years. They finally moved out of the un-climate controlled model homes after nineteen years and into a new building built on land behind the old store. The new store is kind of like a shopper’s “Fantasyland” with theme-park like attractions. A four-lane bowling alley, coffee shop, free range parrots, an Elvis exhibit with the “King’s” 1956 Lincoln Continental, Lady Diana’s jewelry, and Houston Rockets memorabilia including Hakeem Olajuwon’s shoe. At Christmas, he spends over $100,000 on the world’s tallest Christmas tree (taller than the Rockefeller Center tree), which he sets up on the store’s parking lot bordering the freeway. At one time, Mack worked 16 hours a day, 7 days a week at the store, allowing few hobbies. One time he was asked if he played golf, he replied that he “played furniture”. He still works about as much, but takes a little more advantage of his immense wealth, now. He has a five-car garage for his Ferrari collection. He is one of the largest owner’s of thoroughbred racehorses in Kentucky. His goal is to win the Kentucky Derby. He got into horseracing because his daughter and sister-in-law both liked horses.

His wife runs a Tennis Club that he rescued, that brings in the top names in Tennis for tournaments. They recently tore down the old model homes that were the home to Gallery Furniture for its first nineteen years. Marilyn Murphy, a Gallery Furniture manager for 13 years, was asked if the original homestead had been in decent shape before the demolition. She rolled her eyes. “We were always putting the building back together.” Mattress Mack remembers putting the building back together. “I’ll never forget, the second year I was there, that was before they had all those guardrails on the freeway. I’ll never forget it. About 11 o’clock one Sunday morning, we were out there trying to sell, and this guy ran off the side of the road, went into the ditch, came up and hit the side of one of those model homes going about 70 miles an hour. Knocked those bricks everywhere.” Just before they hauled off the debris, Jim McIngvale walked out into the rubble and picked up a brick from that house. He said he was going to add the brick to his memorabilia collection near the front entrance of the new store. “Kind of a memorial,” he says, “to those 20 years of my life.”

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Mattress Mack Dishing the Texans?

We've always known Gallery Furniture's Mattress Mack was a big Houston sports booster, but we never suspected him of the sport of sarcasm. But it sure looks like he's giving a big sarcastic raspberry to the Houston Texans in Thursday's Chronicle Gallery furniture advertisement on page A4. If the Texans win this Sunday's game vs. The Colts, it shouts, and you buy $3,000 worth of furniture and electronics in time to take possession before the kick-off, you'll get all the stuff for FREE. As our football loving classical music critic Charles Ward pointed out, that's a rousing vote of NO CONFIDENCE in the home team. Way to go, Mack, we're proud of you. Not only for a clever marketing gimmick, but also for saying you clearly think their chances suck air. Speaking of clever, maybe Mack is not risking that much.

A furniture store in Chicago already did this with the Bears last weekend, and lost. (In that case, the Bears had to shut out the Packers, and they did, 26-0.) But, though the store owner had to give out a lot of free furniture, he was insured for the loss. We wondered for a moment if this could be illegal gambling. Sure, there's not much of a risk involved since it's the Texans, but we always hold out hope this is the week our beloved guys will get it together and whomp up on someone. And we're sure no fan will take this risk unless they really wanted $3,000 in stuff in the first place. That would make this pretty appealing. Hmm, do I really need that new dining room set? And a flat screen TV? What was that address again? What we are dying to know is how many brave (or crazy) Texan fans will take up the challenge and gamble their bucks on a Texan victory. If you bite, let us know.

GO TEXANS!

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North Texas Names New Facility After Axed Coach

DALLAS -- A booster's unusual ultimatum has placed the University of North Texas in an awkward position: Rename its new athletic facility after the just-fired football coach or allow the donor's $1 million gift to be redirected to the music department. To keep the peace, and perhaps keep open the big-money pipeline, school officials say they will honor the odd request from Houston furniture magnate Jim McIngvale -- known locally as "Mattress Mack" for his goofy TV and radio spots. Thus, the McIngvale Practice Facility will get renamed for Darrell Dickey, who was fired last week. No timeline for the renaming is set. A school spokeswoman cited school policy, which states that a facility "may be named in keeping with the wishes of the donor." It was either rename it, McIngvale said, or redirect his money to the acclaimed One O'Clock Lab Band, the showpiece at one of the country's top music schools. Mattress Mack was serious enough to take out a one-page ad Sunday in the Denton Record-Chronicle explaining his demand. "Right's right and wrong's wrong. It's the right thing to do," McIngvale said. "I don't think firing a guy three weeks after he had a heart attack was the right thing to do, either. Even Wall Street is not that callous." Dickey suffered a heart attack Oct. 12.

McIngvale admits his demand is largely symbolic, as his donation was made two years ago and already spent. He made it out of frustration with Dickey's firing and what he said is a lack of adequate athletics funding from the school. The school's capitulation underscores the influence held by boosters bearing checkbooks, such as T. Boone Pickens at Oklahoma State and the late Ralph Engelstad at the University of North Dakota. McIngvale's $1 million gift means a lot at North Texas, where the football program's budget is about $3.7 million and the music school's is about $8.7 million. It placed the school in the strange position of defending the record of the coach it just fired. Athletics Director Rick Villarreal talked about "the number of good things" accomplished by Dickey, including four straight Sun Belt championships and bowl appearances. The Mean Green went 2-9 last season and 3-7 in 2006. Dickey is 42-62 overall. Dickey, who was under contract through 2009 and will receive a $560,000 buyout, did not respond to telephone messages from The Associated Press seeking comment. Last year at Oklahoma State, Pickens donated $165 million to the athletics department. At least publicly, Pickens' gift has come without conditions. That wasn't the case when Engelstad built a $104 million hockey arena at North Dakota -- and then threatened to stop construction if the school gave into NCAA demands to change its mascot from the Fighting Sioux. Money-hungry programs are rarely in a position to turn down boosters, said Rudy Davalos, the recently retired athletics director at the University of New Mexico. When Davalos ran the University of Houston athletics department 15 years ago, he received a $32 million, no-strings-attached donation from businessman John Moores. "If he would have told me that he wasn't going to give the money unless we named something after him, rest assured we would have named something after him," Davalos said.

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Jamie Kennedy and Mattress Mac Commercial
June 24th, 2006

Imagine my shock, surprise, and total delight when, late one night, I saw a commercial on TV for Mattress Mac, starring Jamie Kennedy! Now, for those of you who don’t know (and that includes everyone who doesn’t live in Houston, Texas), Mattress Mac is actually Jim McInvale, a Houston salesman who turned a small furniture business into a major corporation, and is most known for starring in his own (oftentimes intentionally wacky) commercials. And of course Jamie Kennedy is the comedian who used to have his own show “The Jamie Kennedy Experiment”, who then segue into movies (”Malibu’s Most Wanted”) before doing his own show on MTV called “Blowin’ Up” which purports to chronicle his attempts to get noticed as a rapper. (I’m not sure if the show is a parody or not, as I haven’t really watched it, but Kennedy has always had a fascination/obsession with being a white rapper. But in any case, the commercial is Jamie Kennedy rapping while Mattress Mac dances like a fool next to him. (This is normal; Mac is always acting like a fool in his commercials, which is doubly shocking as the guy is actually quite a legitimate businessman, entrepreneur, and distinguished Houstonian in other ways.) See the commercial for yourself. If you happen to know the history of Mattress Mac and Jamie Kennedy, this commercial will knock your socks off. It’s insanely funny and cool at the same time. But if you don’t know these two guys, it might just seem kooky, which it also is.

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About Mack

Jim McIngvale (also known as Mattress Mac) is a Houston businessman and owner of Gallery Furniture, one of the largest retail stores in the United States. Mac is well known for his animated television advertising spots, which end with his yelling, in resounding cheer, "SAVE YOU MONEY!". His daughter is Elizabeth McIngvale, founder of Peace of Mind, a non-profit organization devoted to the research of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. In 2002, McIngvale co-authored the book Always Think Big with Thomas Duening and John Ivancevich. The book chronicles the ups and downs of McIngvale's entrepreneurial career and offers readers advice on how to effectively market and manage a business. [1] McIngvale is very active in the Houston community. He has worked with former president George Herbert Walker Bush to raise funds for the Houston Tsunami Relief Fund and the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. He has made sizable donations to local schools, colleges, and charitable efforts. He also has strong ties to the Houston sports teams -- the Houston Astros, Houston Rockets, Houston Texans and to professional tennis.

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Gallery Furniture Stadium

The construction of the Gallery Furniture Stadium came with a price tag of roughly $10 million. Published reports said Jim and Linda McIngvale spent $27 million to bring the Masters Cup to Houston. The 2004 Masters Cup will return to the Westside Tennis Club in November.

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Recliner a fit for 'Mattress Mac'

Furniture baron isn't meddling with trainers the way he used to do

By Hank Wesch UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

April 29, 2004

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When James McIngvale plunged into horse racing, he became both a trainer's dream and nightmare. A dream because, as the founder of Gallery Furniture, he had plenty of money to spend on promising stock. A nightmare because of his tendency to meddle and be impatient. But since McIngvale hooked up with three-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert, he is, he says, "a changed man." And if a gray colt named Wimbledon can get to the wire first Saturday in the 130th Kentucky Derby, McIngvale will join the list of rich and, in some cases, colorful clients – Mike Pegram, Prince Ahmed bin Salman, Bob and Beverly Lewis – Baffert has escorted to racing's promised land. "He got into the business because he wants to win the Kentucky Derby," Baffert said yesterday. "And he's going to win the Derby. I don't know if it's going to be this year or when, but he's going to win one." McIngvale, 53, was a successful furniture salesman in Dallas before starting his own enterprise, Gallery Furniture, in Houston in 1981. The story goes that McIngvale began Gallery Furniture with a $5,000 investment and it has grown to annual sales of more than $100 million.

McIngvale's personal involvement in the promotion of the business cannot be overstated. The company spends $8 million to $10 million annually on advertising, and the vintage TV ads in Houston, which mercifully are not shown nationwide, have topped the "worst" list in voting by marketing students at the University of Houston for at least a decade. Think Cal Worthington, only more bizarre. "You know, I'm a shameless promoter," said McIngvale, who these days wears patriotic red, white and blue almost everywhere he goes. "And I sell mattresses. I figure if I wear a mattress, people can associate me with what I sell. So I started wearing a mattress, with holes for arms, legs and the head cut out. And I became known as 'Mattress Mac.' " Born in Starkville, Miss., McIngvale plunged into the racing business in 1996, investing $1 million in five yearlings at various sales with an eye toward the 1998 Triple Crown. A series of injuries during the winter 1998 racing season at Gulfstream Park in Florida ended that dream and started McIngvale on a jag of interfering with and then firing trainers the way George Steinbrenner used to do with Yankees managers.

He took 15 horses from Nick Zito's barn and moved them to former Zito assistant Steve Moyer. He replaced Moyer with a former night watchman, considered going with Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg – whose last big horse was Alysheba in 1987 – but instead chose his sister-in-law Laura Wohlers as his trainer of record. "If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't buy so many horses so fast," McIngvale said. "I overbought horses and I bought a lot of bad ones. The lesson I learned was that I should stay the hell out of it and let the people who devote their lives to horse racing run the horse racing business." That is what he has done since hooking up with Baffert. McIngvale started sending horses to Baffert a couple of years ago, but the two didn't meet face-to-face until last summer at Del Mar. McIngvale has 12 horses with Baffert, and 10 more 2-year-olds are soon to populate the Baffert barns. "It's hard for people who come into the horse business after being successful in something else to give up the kind of control they're used to having in (the other successful venture)," Baffert said. "But you can't control a horse and you can't control a horse race like you can other things.

"As a trainer, you almost don't want to be the first (for a hands-on owner). Chances are you're going to get fired and so will a couple of others before (the owner) learns the business." Wimbledon was a $425,000 purchase at a Florida 2-year-old sale in February of last year. Baffert brought the colt to Del Mar for his racing debut last summer with high praises and expectations. But Wimbledon ran only once there, finishing fifth of 10 in a 5½-furlong maiden sprint in which the first three finishers – Siphonizer, Cooperation and Minister Eric – have gone on to achieve success. Minister Eric is a Derby entrant. Wimbledon didn't get his first win until his fifth start, second this year, in February at Santa Anita. A win in the Louisiana Derby in March legitimized his Kentucky Derby candidacy. A ninth-place showing in the Santa Anita Derby dropped his stock somewhat. Javier Santiago, a top Puerto Rican rider who had been in the United States just over a month, was aboard for the two victories and the Santa Anita Derby disappointment. Jerry Bailey, the top rider in North America and a two-time Derby winner, has taken over for the Run for the Roses. McIngvale is a tennis buff. He owns the West Side Tennis Club in Houston, which has grass courts modeled on the more famous ones at Wimbledon, the place for which the colt is named. "I've got a friend with the United States Tennis Association who keeps asking when I'm going to name a horse U.S. Open," McIngvale said.

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Mr. Jim "Mack" McIngvale Co-owner of Gallery Furniture. How to be Successful Through Making a Connection:

November 20, 2002

Jim McIngvale and his wife, Linda, are the co-owners of Gallery Furniture. "Mattress Mack," as he is know throughout Texas, started Gallery Furniture in 1981 with five thousand dollars and a dream. That dream has grown into one of the most successful businesses in Houston and the single most successful furniture store in the country. The success of Gallery Furniture is truly embodied by Mack's strong commitment to hard work, customer service and grass roots marketing.

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"Mattress Mack" Makes Offer Customers Can't Refuse

September 17, 2006

Furniture impresario Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale is offering his customers a deal they can't refuse - free furniture --if the Houston Texans beat Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday, September17th. "If you buy $3,000 or more worth of furniture from Gallery Furniture between Wednesday, September 13th and take immediate possession by either delivery or pick up by the Texans kickoff at noon on Sunday and the Texans win, we will give you back every cent you spent with us," said McIngvale.

Posted by Cay Dickson at September 17, 2006 01:42 PM

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Houston Alumni Organization Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients

HAO Chair’s Award Recipients

Jim McIngvale Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale founded Gallery Furniture in 1981 and quickly turned it in to the second largest single-location furniture store in the United States. Affectionately known as “Mattress Mack” to scores of Houstonians, he is also well-known for his philanthropic contributions to the community, donating furniture to area schools, the poor, and victims of natural disasters. McIngvale has a long-standing connection to the University of Houston and is thrilled that his daughters Elizabeth and Laura are now Cougars. In 2002, he co-authored Always Think Big with the C. T. Bauer College of Business’ Thomas Duening John Ivancevich. McIngvale has also sponsored numerous UH functions and has served on the Board of Advisors for Bauer College’s Program for Excellence in Selling.

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Mack says Texas Should Lead Nation in Mental-Health Funding

Jim McIngvale, known throughout Houston as "Mattress Mack," owns Gallery Furniture, one of the largest single-store furniture companies in the United States, with annual sales of $150 million to $200 million and about 300 employees. Mack, as he calls himself, is also known for his civic work and currently serves as the Houston chair of the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Relief Fund. Mack's advocacy for those with mental illness began four years ago, when his wife came to him and said they needed to talk. "She said there was something terribly wrong with our daughter," Mack recalls. "She was washing her hands 600 times a day." Mack and his wife took their daughter, Liz, to a therapist who said that Liz had one of the most severe cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder he had ever seen. "We researched our options and took her by force to the Menninger Clinic," says Mack. "I'll never forget seeing Liz with her face pressed against the door, crying, 'Mom, please don't leave me.' She was just 14." Six or eight weeks later, Liz came home, ready to work on the long, slow process of recovery. "She never went back to school," says Mack. "She graduated by home schooling. She's made a lot of progress. We're proud of her." “Mental illness needs a face to help people understand it's real. It isn't a disease that affects strangers; it affects families like yours and mine” Mack admits that his background as a college football player and as an entrepreneur made it hard for him to understand other people's mental-health challenges.

"I'd see people with mental illness and wonder why they couldn't just tough it out," he says. "Then I saw with my own eyes. I understand that obsessive-compulsive disorder affects more than one out of 50." Wasting no time, Mack took the lesson he learned at home and applied it to Gallery Furniture. "We changed our insurance policy to provide mental-health parity," he says. "I'm a lot more sympathetic toward my employees' challenges than I used to be. Now, I'm an advocate, trying to help them get better." In Mack's view, things are changing for the better, although perhaps a bit more slowly than he would like. "Folks are becoming more aware of mental illness. It's starting to come out of the closet, like cancer 30 years ago," he says. "Educated people are beginning to understand that it's biological." A born marketer, Mack views the challenge of overcoming the stigma that still surrounds mental illness as a matter of changing public perception. "Mental illness needs a face to help people understand it's real. It isn't a disease that affects strangers; it affects families like yours and mine," he says. "When people understand that, they understand that nothing should differentiate a person with mental illness from someone with a broken arm."  For Mack, it's not a cost issue. "People are concerned about exploding health-care costs, but we tend to focus too much on treatment and less on prevention," he says. "For good companies, it's a matter of doing the right thing. At the end of the day, the litmus test is what did we do to help people. Providing mental health benefits is going to increase productivity, and do good for people."

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Mack Hosts President George H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush

The Bushes manned the kettle stand in front of Gallery Furniture in Houston during an event at the store Monday. The Salvation Army was represented by National Commander Israel L. Gaither, Houston Area Commander Marshall Genser and a four-piece brass band, among others. Gallery Furniture owner Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, one of Houston’s biggest philanthropists, hosted the President and First Lady. In addition, a huge, 7-foot-tall Red Kettle—one of the world’s largest—was on site.

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A Little on Mattress Mack

They say that when you know how to stay grounded on your two feet amidst the success achieved, the more you will be dignified by your accomplishments. This is absolutely true to Jim McIngvale who is also known as Mattress Mack. His name may not immediately ring a bell into your ears but he is that same guy in late night television who dresses up in a bed cushion and waves dollar bills just to promote Gallery Furniture. More than the image he suggests on national broadcast, in real life he is actually a number of people. He is an entrepreneur, movie producer, risk- taker, Houston supporter and author. Jack of all trades, you may think. In 1981, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale together with his wife, Linda, moved to Houston. With only $5, 000 he had accumulated by selling a furniture in their former hometown, they established Gallery Furniture in North Freeway which is seen until this juncture. Just like other businesses who started from scratch, it was not a piece of cake for them. McIngvale said that he was attracted to the place because in the 1980’s it was a booming oil and gas town so they as a couple took a shot even with the fact that they did not virtually knew anybody. He was born in Mississippi and was raised up in Dallas but with the trade that he was getting into, he had an experience in the 1970’s where he figured out that he can generate money out of such.

It was only in a small building where Mattress Mack and his wife Linda took office but presently, it is now situated in a 100, 000 square foot showroom. Backed by a warehouse of also similar size, they now have 300 employees. With a fleet of about 60 trucks that are utilized for deliveries, they bring home more than $150 million in annual basis. In Houston, Gallery Furniture is now a household label where they do not only cater to the locals but as well as around the United States. Much more now that there is the convenience of the information superhighway and with just a click of the mouse, orders can be placed. Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale always say that the recognition they have received is always about a relentless advertising. He added that they hilarious commercials are just part of the scheme to make noise because his philosophy is to be a team player who is not stocked in the corner and watches how the game goes. As much as possible, he is visible especially in their headquarters where there a lot of customers visiting every now and then to take a personal look of their new products. He takes every opportunity to present his brand which he claims that “promotion only serves as the underpinning for what makes his business thrive.”

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Tie Your Sales Objectives to the Things That Are Important to You

Summary: “Mattress Mack” – Jim McIngvale is a living legend. He loves to work, to delight his customers, reinvent himself and his company, and contributes to the community. He counts his inspiration to leaders like George H. Bush, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, his father George McIngvale “Mr. Mack”, Peter Drucker, Dr. Michael Debakey, his wife Linda, and Daughter Elizabeth. Mr. McIngvale is a salesman’s salesman and his salesman is Jeffrey Gitomer (www.Gitomer.com). I became aware of Mr. McIngvale when I first moved to Houston in 1993. However, I did not know about his long history in the “Make It Happen City” until I had the honor of getting an appointment with him over breakfast in 2000. From afar, I guess the commercials and his name continued to press the ever important message, that “Gallery Furniture really will save you money.” So, after while, I found it very important to meet the man. The reason for my appointment with Mr. McIngvale (he reserves “Mr. Mack” for his dad)? I had a client who admired him and I proposed that we take Mr. McIngvale to breakfast (the only time Mr. McIngvale could meet) to pick his brain. I did get that appointment after much persistence and determination (a value he appreciates) – after all I am a former Marine. Well, we had a great breakfast and finally got Mr. McIngvale to relay a few valuable insights that made him a success. He quietly spoke about being relentless when it comes to customer service, working his model to create same day delivery, and his work ethic “early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise”. Well, as we prepared to leave, he picked up the bill for six and I have told that story hundreds of times. I have been fortunate to cross paths with Mr. McIngvale periodically.

I have read both of his books, “Elvis on the Lot” and “Always Think Big” – having him autograph both. I am a fan of Mr. McIngvale for his tenacity (some of which I am working hard to emulate – this is really hard to do). I had the opportunity to hear Mr. McIngvale speak back to back this week. He spoke at a recent Realtor® luncheon in Northwest Houston and at Open Door Mission. At the Realtor luncheon he spoke about “customer service”, which meant answering the phone when you didn’t feel like it or calling customers back . I have been challenged by Mr. Lupe Fraga, President of Tejas Office Supply and fellow Aggie and influential business owner here in Houston to make sure that I tell people that they need to return calls. I tell people all of the time, if Mr. McIngvale can call people back, so can you. In fact, Mr. McIngvale publishes his personal cell phone – you can call him direct. Well I captured the wind up discussion from Mr. McIngvale here for my great readers: His admonishment is to write the five things that are important to you and the five selling things you need to do to make each selling day great. At the macro level and at the macro level this could be huge. Selling is an ongoing skill and we should be learning as much as we can about sales.

Finally, Mr. McIngvale spoke at Open Door Mission (I found out about his speaking late in the morning and made a point to rush over to hear him). I currently do some volunteer work at Open Door and one of my guys called me to tell me that he would be there. Mr. McIngvale treated these guys with respect and just shared his story and it has remained the same. He works hard, loves hard work, loves his customers, and challenged the men to develop a “World Class Work Ethic”. He told the men “I am not a show horse, I am a work horse.” He told the guys if they will find an opportunity, start at the bottom, and that they might one day find themselves at the top. The man is amazing and as hard as he works, he cites others who work harder than he. For example, Dr. Michael Debakey, who at 99 continues to teach heart surgery to new students and Dr. Mann who saved his brother George’s life recently, dedicating his personal care and going beyond the call of duty. In the end, a salesman job is never done and the mantra “If it is to be, it is up to me!”, still prevails. Happy selling!!

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A Quote From Mack

"Nobody makes money when you're just selling a commodity. You have to make it bigger than it is, whether it's selling furniture or turning a baseball game into this incredible, fun experience, and the best way to do it is by making things fun."—Jim "Mattress Mac" McIngvale, CEO, Gallery Furniture

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Mack Donates to Kick Drugs Out of America

Sidekicks was very successful. A friend of mine put up the money for it—a guy named “Mattress Mac.” Mattress Mac owned—and he still does—one of the most successful furniture companies in Texas. He was actually the first man to put up money for KICKSTART, then known as Kick Drugs Out of America. I met him and his wife, Linda, at a charity function and started telling them about what I wanted to do with at-risk kids and all that. The next day, I went to their office and told them more about the program. Linda pulled out her checkbook and started writing. I was wondering how much they would give me—$5,000 maybe? I would have been excited about that, but she handed me a check for $50,000! Then Mac started promoting the program on his radio spots. All of a sudden, we had people coming in. I don’t know if I would have gotten it started without their help.

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Mack Reaches Out to Help Evacuees

Jim "Mattress Mac" McIngvale says Hurricane Katrina evacuees are welcome to spend the night in his Gallery Furniture store. The store is in northwest Houston in the 6000 block of I-45. Evacuees can also get a shower, a free meal and a mattress to sleep on. Just go to the store around 10 p.m. at night and stay until it opens in the morning.

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Mack's Secret of Success

His real name is Jim McIngvale. They call him Mattress Mac. Twenty-five years ago he dove headlong into the furniture business with just five thousand dollars. It's all he had. This year that furniture store will do nearly 200 million dollars in a single location, placing it among the most successful stores in the world. Jim occasionally buys a day of my time to pick my brain and bounce ideas off me. I should be paying him. During our last visit, I asked my friend if I could share the secret of his success with you. Graciously, he allowed it: As simple as this may sound, Jim's 200 million dollar secret is immediate delivery. When people buy new furniture, they want to see it in their home immediately. "Buy it today and we'll deliver it tonight," is Jim's angle. He doesn't do special orders. "If you see it, we've got it." Remember all those people who said they wanted to pick from a large selection of fabrics and wood grains? Tell them you'll deliver their new sofa in 8 to 12 weeks. Then Jim will show them something entirely different but offer to deliver it immediately. Guess who usually wins?

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Gallery Furniture Gives House Worth of Furniture.

Susan Benoit Lychner Unit Liaison determined to help former co-worker in need

Susan Benoit’s letter wasn’t addressed to that merry old soul at the North Pole, but she still got what she wanted for Christmas. And as always, what she wanted was to make Christmas merry for someone in need. So on the day before Thanksgiving, Benoit wrote a letter to Jim McIngvale of Gallery Furniture notoriety telling him about the misfortunes of Kareasa Hicks, a former correctional officer at the Pam Lychner State Jail in Humble where Benoit has worked as a Human Resources assistant the past four years. Susan Benoit sitting in front of fountain with statue Susan Benoit, Human Resources Assistant at the Pam Lychner Unit sits in front of a statue (dedicated to the Unit's namesake an her daughters who were killed in a plane crash) outside the unit. She wrote a letter to Gallery Furniture on behalf of a correctional officer who l ost all her belongings in a flood in Houston and then was diagnosed with Cancer and lost her left leg. The letter prompted Gallery Furniture to give the officer a whole house worth of furniture. She also raised a considerable amount of money and presents for her children as well.

Benoit wrote that Hicks, a 27-year-old single parent to three young children, desperately needed furnishings because in June 2001 she had lost all her household possessions to floodwaters spawned by Topical Storm Allison. And just two months later, she was forced to take medical leave because of a persistent pain in her left hip and leg, a symptom that would eventually lead to the discovery of a cancerous tumor, and, in November 2002, the amputation of her left leg at a Houston hospital. And since exhausting her sick leave in March after nearly five years of service, Hicks, after paying her bills, had only what was left from a small disability check to provide for her family at Christmas, Benoit wrote. "I just told the truth," Benoit said about her heart-wrenching letter to the man widely known as "Mattress Mac." "She needed help." Benoit wrote to McIngvale after a co-worker told her that the furniture store selects 15 needy families from the Houston area each holiday season and provides them with free furnishings. "After that, I saw a couple of commercials and thought, well, I’m just going to try it," Benoit said. Georgia Ann Spears, Special Events director for Gallery Furniture, read Benoit’s letter and pulled it from among the 8,000 letters the company received this year.

"It touched me, because I thought it was so sad that she had all these problems and this cancer and she had taken all of her sick leave and then they had to let her go," Spears said. TDCJ Employees greet Kareasa Hicks at her home as they surprise her with Christmas gifts and help Gallery Furniture deliver a house full of furniture in her time of need. Photo courtesy of Susan Benoit Just days after writing her letter, Benoit was informed that Hicks was one of 30 persons still being considered for furnishings from Gallery. All the store needed was additional information about her dire situation, said Benoit who immediately started collecting information and personal references from Hicks’ friends and former colleagues. "They wanted to know everything, just to prove my story, that I wasn’t just trying to get something for somebody when they didn’t really need it," she said. Meanwhile, Benoit was also busy collecting cash and toys from unit employees to present to Hicks and her children at Christmas. In all, Lychner employees gave more than $1,300 in cash and more toys than could fit under the family’s Christmas tree. "?With the gifts, you couldn’t see the tree," Benoit beamed. "We wanted it to be a Christmas they would always remember." It would turn out to be.

With less than two weeks left before Christmas and just days before Hicks was to return home from the hospital, Benoit received word that Gallery would indeed be providing the Hicks family with much-needed furnishings. It was delivered the day after Hicks returned home and unloaded by more than 30 of her former colleagues at Lychner. Gallery provided Hicks with a dining room set, a sleeper sofa, a love seat, end tables, a coffee table, lamps, bunk beds for her two boys, ages 4 and 8, a twin bed for her 6-year-old daughter, and two king-size beds for Hicks and her brother who helps with her care. Sheets, pillows and comforters were also provided. "She couldn’t believe so much was there," Benoit said about Hicks’ reaction. "We all started crying. It was nice." Spears said Gallery has provided free furnishings for needy families the past 19 years. "Mac believes in giving back to the community, and he thought this would be a good way to give something back," Spears said about the annual giveaway. "Of course, we can’t give everybody something, but we certainly do try to do what we can. Like we always say, no one can do everything, but every one can do something."

Benoit, who serves as the unit’s liaison to the Correctional Peace Officer’s Foundation, strives to do something for someone each holiday season because she, too, has suffered loss. While living in Liberty in May 2000, she and her husband Edmund, a major at the Hightower Unit in Dayton, and their two children lost most of their possessions to floodwaters. "I’ve been through a flood and know what it’s like not to have anything, not to have any assistance," Benoit said about her efforts to aid Hicks and her family this year. "We have to help each other. You have to be there for somebody else, not just yourself. That’s what Christmas is all about."

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Mack, a True Supporter of His Community

About The Speaker Known as "Mattress Mac" to just about anyone in Houston who has ever turned on a TV, Jim McIngvale is the owner of Gallery Furniture. A true supporter of the community in which he lives, "Mattress Mac" said he believes in supporting Houston activities that benefit the youth of the community. He is constantly asked to give speeches and rarely, if ever, refuses. He estimates the number to be "hundreds a year". He supports an impressive number of events, including the Houston Women's Tennis Championship and Chuck Norris' Houston-based 'Kick Drugs out of America', a program that teaches inner city kids in Houston to develop character traits such as self-reliance, responsibility and discipline. "My wife, Linda, and I have long believed that we have to give back to the community from which we derive our support. " McIngvale said. Gallery Furniture is located near Intercontinental Airport at 6006 I 45 North between Tidwell and Parker where he really will "SAVE YOU MONEY $$$".

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Mack Sponsors University Scholarship

Jim "Mattress Mac" McIngvale of Gallery Furniture in Houston sponsored one four-year university scholarship.

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Mack Supports UT Game

Local businessman Jim "Mattress Mac" McIngvale has pledged his support to help promote the UT game and surrounding events by spending $200,000 to enhance Houston's public perception

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Mack Contributes to Fight Against Childhood Obesity

Jim McIngvale, Houston’s beloved “Mattress Mac,” contributed $400,000 to the Center for Childhood Obesity and Adolescent & Sports Medicine Clinics at Texas Children’s Hospital to help fight childhood obesity and launch obesity awareness efforts in the community.

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Guest Speaker: Jim McIngvale

Today Jim McIngvale, owner of Gallery Furniture (http://www.galleryfurniture.com) was our guest speaker and he told us about himself, the gift of living in America and the gift of the work ethic that he received from his dad. "I received two great gifts. (1) I got a great work ethic from my dad. He's 85 and I am so lucky to have him still working with me 3 days a week at Gallery Furniture and (2) I won the lottery...I live in America, the greatest country in the world." "I wish that every school kid could go overseas for just one day to see what it is like in other countries. If they could, then they would realize how good it is to live in America." Jim McIngvale, Laura Hogan (one of our scholarship winners) and Gerald Cothran, the current Rotary president. Jim and Gallery Furniture are involved in scholarship programs and charitable programs all over our area and Gallery Furniture sponsors a number of events which raise money for good causes. (All quotes are paraphrased humbly by the webmaster.)

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WAPEN presents Jim McIngvale, Making a Difference

by Beth Tabak

Jim McIngvale, known affectionately as "Mattress Mac" with his uncompromising attitude has built the biggest single retail store in American which this year will do in excess of $150 million worth of business. Mac sells more furniture per square foot of retail space than any store in the world! Jim McIngvale is one of Houston's most well-known philanthropists and community leaders. Jim's core values can best be summed up in his book, Always Think Big where he outlines 7 principles he uses every day in his approach to marketing and management. They are the compass points Click to enlarge photo. that guide him in solving problems, making decisions, and delighting customers. Mack's lessons are applicable to work settings, career management, community involvement, and life. They are specific, practical and powerful. Learn more about Jim at his web site: http://www.GalleryFurniture.com

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Andre Agassi Quotes

"It's incredible to see what they've created. Mac is one the greatest human beings I've ever seen when it comes to his commitment to put his money where his mouth is, to step up to the plate and actually affect the things he claims he cares about. I've seen him care about children, and I've seen him care about tennis. I admire him, and I'm inspired by him. He's absolutely pushing this sport forward single-handedly." -- Andre Agassi on Tennis Masters Cup promoter Jim McIngvale.

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Westside Tennis Club Events

Linda and Jim McIngvale of Westside Tennis Club put the fast serve on philanthropy during the 2006 U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships April 10-16, scheduling a number of special events benefiting pediatric, uterine and gastric cancer research at M. D. Anderson.

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Mack Serves as Master of Ceremonies

The day, March 3rd, will begin with a kick-off breakfast and Jim McIngvale, aka “Mattress Mac”, will serve as the Master of Ceremonies.

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Mack's Family Supports OCD Research

James and Linda McIngvale , well-known throughout Texas for their successful Houston-based furniture business and their local philanthropy, recently made a commitment of $10 million to fund major, sustained research in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) within the MGH Department of Psychiatry. Their generous gift is the largest donation in the department’s history. The McIngvales are passionate about supporting OCD research because they know first-hand how debilitating this condition can be. Their daughter, Elizabeth, who is now in college, was diagnosed with OCD at age 12. Thanks to excellent care and a loving, supportive family, Elizabeth manages to control her condition. But, as with all OCD patients, “it is a daily challenge,” says Linda McIngvale. According to MGH psychiatrist Michael Jenike, MD, who directs the MGH OCD Research Program, this gift funded the creation of the McIngvale Research Group – a team of MGH specialists in psychiatry, genetics and neuroimaging who are focused on understanding the genetic basis of OCD with the goal of improving diagnosis and treatment. “The strides Dr. Jenike and his team are making are thrilling,” says James McIngvale. “Supporting this research is the best investment we’ve ever made.”

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Mack Advertises For a Cause

The next day we discovered that through the support of Houston businessman Jim McIngvale and his advertisement in the Houston Chronicle, we could expect up to a thousand marchers. As it turned out, more than 2,000 people from UST, other universities and Houston’s diverse neighborhoods marched through the new entrance while singing and raying . The throng poured into the new Campus Life Mall. TV cameras caught them walking by with the Chapel of St. Basil as a lovely backdrop. The students then settled down on the lawn awaiting Pope John Paul’s 3 a.m. funeral Mass to be broadcast on big-screen TVs. Earlier I mentioned generosity, and I would be remiss not to thank Jim McIngvale, who provided such valuable support. The vigil and the level of participation both indicate that we are educating leaders of faith and character.

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Mattress Mack: One man, one store, one of a kind

Every job has its milestones, and as a business columnist in Houston, I just passed one. On Tuesday, I got to meet Mattress Mack. I moderated a discussion with Jim McIngvale at a meeting of the Entrepreneur Organization, the local chapter of a global organization for people starting and running their own businesses. As I prepared my questions, I was surprised at how little has been written about McIngvale's company, Gallery Furniture. There's been plenty about his charity efforts, such as raising money as Houston chair of the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Relief Fund. His horse-racing endeavors attracted a fair amount of attention, and his feelings about the Texans have made headlines recently. Little, though, has been written recently about what's become one of the top 100 furniture businesses in the country as ranked by Furniture Today, an industry publication. Perhaps it's because McIngvale is already an icon of Houston business. He and his story are so well-known that I almost hesitate to write about him for fear of stating the obvious. But his story is worth telling, or perhaps retelling, because it's one of those rare tales in which a small business on a shoestring budget burgeoned into a large and successful enterprise. Something else I learned in meeting McIngvale: Don't let the lowbrow schtick of his commercials fool you.

Though he admits his early success in the furniture business came from knowing little about it, he has long since become a model for other retailers. He works closely with the Center for Retailing Studies at Texas A&M and he's steeped his organization in the philosophy of management guru Dr. Edwards Deming. From Deming, McIngvale learned to deal with fewer suppliers and build long-standing relationships with them. He also stopped paying his salespeople by commission, after reading Deming's view that workers should be rewarded in ways that encourage pride in their work, not just reward volume. That philosophy has helped McIngvale expand a business that started in 1981 with $5,000 into one with annual sales of some $100 million. Gallery ranks No. 1 nationally for sales per square foot and has for a decade, according to Furniture Today.

Mack Woos Repeat Customers

Much of that has been driven by his newspaper and television ads and his Deming-inspired obsession with customer service. McIngvale pursues repeat customers as relentlessly as he recruits new ones, frequently calling on them personally. Apparently it works. After our discussion on Tuesday, several people in the audience shared tales of appreciation. Everyone, it seems, has a Mattress Mack story. I was fascinated by McIngvale's decision to limit Gallery to its one location on I-45 all these years. Most successful retailers would have expanded to the suburbs long ago, cashing in on the new development there. McIngvale says he's stayed with one store because of his staunch aversion to debt. An early venture into the health spa business in Dallas failed in part because it expanded too quickly. He also likes the control he can retain over both inventory and employees with one location. McIngvale says he doesn't worry about the competition. Instead, he stays focused on his own customers. So far, the housing slump that McIngvale says is hurting other furniture retailers around the country nationwide hasn't affected Houston.

Press Release from Wells Fargo

WELLS FARGO FINANCIAL RETAIL SERVICES BRINGS STRENGTH, KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE IN RETAIL CREDIT INDUSTRY TO GALLERY FURNITURE DES MOINES, Iowa – March 3, 2004 – Wells Fargo Financial Retail Services and Gallery Furniture have agreed on the terms of an exclusive private label credit card program that offers flexible payment options to qualifying Gallery Furniture customers. “Gallery Furniture has a proven track record of outstanding service, which makes for an excellent business relationship between our two companies,” stated Brad Anderson, Sr. Vice President, Operations, Wells Fargo Financial Retail Services. “With our combined commitment to the customer, we anticipate growing Gallery Furniture’s private label customer base and providing a top-notch program that will be mutually beneficial for many years to come.” This exclusive program includes a dedicated line of credit for Gallery Furniture customers, enabling them to make larger item purchases without tying up other lines of credit or impacting their cash flow. A dedicated line of credit also promotes greater shopping frequency and improved customer satisfaction ratings. With a comprehensive and competitively priced menu of special-terms promotions, Gallery Furniture customers can enjoy lower monthly payments, competitive interest rates, a convenient tool for add-on purchases and the flexibility to "buy today" and "pay tomorrow." Promotions include no interest option plans with and without payments, plus regular and reduced rate terms.

“Wells Fargo Financial Retail Services is a great business partner because they understand the customer is the business and the business is the customer,” stated Gallery Furniture owner Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale. Through this business relationship, Wells Fargo Financial Retail Services, with over 40 years experience in the retail credit industry, will provide relationship management and sales support, sales training, client support, integrated technology, and customized marketing materials to Gallery Furniture. Other features of the program include rapid credit decisions and funding, generous credit lines and easy application processing. Gallery Furniture, located in Houston, Texas, sells more than $150 million in furniture annually. Its owner and co-founder, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, is known as one of Houston’s most well known philanthropists and community leaders. Wells Fargo Financial Retail Services, headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, specializes in providing private label and co-branded credit card programs to retailers in the United States and Canada. Its parent, Wells Fargo Financial, headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, is a $28 billion international financial services company. Founded in 1897, the company today has more than 17,000 team members.

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