Official Blog of Gallery Furniture's Mattress Mack of Houston, TX

Over The Top Delivery

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!

Glad to Help Troops See Super Bowl

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.

Sound Too Good to Be True? It Is!

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

Exactly What They Were Looking For

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!

Speedy Delivery

Gallery Furniture is known for same day delivery -- after all Gallery Furniture did it first and still does it better than any other Houston furniture store.

Here's a good example.

Monday, a customer came in to the store and bought a large table and 10 chairs for a Heights area office conference room.  Less than an hour later, the table was set up in the office.

Here's how the timeline went:

1:10 PM -- the ticket prints in the warehouse

1:30 PM -- the delivery truck is loaded

1:48 PM -- the delivery truck arrives at the office

1:59 PM -- the table is set up

2:00 PM -- the customer is delighted

This delivery was certainly faster than you expect from a furniture store, and it was better for the customer because she had the new table ready to use before the afternoon was done.

Gallery Furniture can't make every delivery in less than an hour, but it is nice when it happens.  Gallery Furniture will go the extra mile for customers, and that's what sets Gallery Furniture apart.  Give us a try!

Rooms on the Go at Gallery Furniture

Mitch and Charlotte came to Gallery Furniture today looking to furnish a new condo they bought down in Florida.  The condo has been empty, but a naval officer will be renting it from them starting this weekend.  Well, Mitch and Charlotte's first tried to go to Rooms to Go in Austin to get furniture for the Pensacola condo, but their experience was a nightmare. Mitch and Charlotte told Gallery Furniture about their experience:

"We drove 3 hours to Austin, spent 2 hours shopping around for furniture, and then drove 3 hours back.  From the very beginning we explained to Rooms to Go that we needed all our furniture by this Friday.  Well, sure enough after we drove back to Houston and Rooms to Go gave us the bad news, they couldn't delivered it, and Rooms to Go didn't have any interest in accommodating."

After driving to Austin and still remaining empty handed, Mitch and Charlotte were in a rough spot.  Charlotte, who works in sales, was disappointed, and rightfully so, because she always expects the best in customer service everywhere she shops.  After thinking it over, the couple called Gallery Furniture.  They said they were skeptical at first because they didn't think that Gallery Furniture could meet their needs or accommodate their delivery time.  Well Gallery Furniture's customer service representative Laura received the call and sent the call straight to me.  I told her Gallery Furniture could definitely deliver that furniture to their condo in Florida by Friday, because Gallery Furniture does whatever possible to make the customer happy.  Like Charlotte said herself, "Gallery Furniture has superior customer service." 

(Mitch and Charlotte with Mattress Mack at Gallery Furniture)

Once in the store this morning, Gallery Furniture's customer service was at its best when salesman Kenny met Mitch and Charlotte at the door.  Kenny is "knowledgeable and stuck withing their time and financial parameters.  Kenny was able to be very effective, putting together 3 bedroom suites, 1 dining room set, and a living room set in no time.  Thats what its all about folks, meeting your needs efficiently and effectively.  Only the best here at Gallery Furniture.

Gallery Furniture thanks Mitch and Charlotte for shopping with us and is happy to get the furniture they purchased into that condo, so the naval officer can have a great place to call home when he comes back from serving our country.  If your looking to furnish your home or a vacation home, Gallery Furniture can be your one-stop shop. Our sales staff will make sure to stay within your parameters and do whatever possible to make you happy!

Old School Customer Service

There's nothing better than hearing from a customer Gallery Furniture has made happy.  I heard from two of them Sunday.  Julie and Al bought some furniture from us and had it delivered to their home Saturday.  Sunday morning they were on the phone telling me about the experience.

They described the service they got as "great and excellent" and then said something that hit home to me.  They described Gallery Furniture's service as "Old School," the kind of service they used to get, the likes of which they thought they'd never see again.

If "Old School" mean old fashioned, I'll take it.  I want Gallery Furniture to be known for the kind of service people used to expect, they kind of service that seems to have gone out of style these days.

And then there was the gentleman who came into the store and told me he and his wife had been to eight other furniture stores in Houston, only to end up at Gallery Furniture, the only place to buy.

Folks, if you want the kind of service you thought you'd never see again, come to the Houston furniture store that should be the first on your shopping tour -- Gallery Furniture.  There's no need to drag yourself to eight furniture stores when you know you'll find what you need at  your last stop, Gallery Furniture!

Gallery Furniture Is There When You Need Us

When you answer the phone at Gallery Furniture -- as I do as often as I can --  you hear from people who are looking for new furniture at a happy time in their life, and sometimes others who need help at a sad time.

Sunday, I got a call from a woman who lives in California but is in Texas to deal with her late mother's affairs.  It turns out that her mother purchased an adjustable Tempur-Pedic sleep system from Gallery Furniture a while ago.  Now, the woman's sister is ill and needs an ajustable bed.  That was the reason for the call to Gallery Furniture -- could I help get mother's bed to sister's house?

The answer, of course, was yes.  Two of our delivery people were at the mother's house in about an hour, moving the bed from there to the sister's house several miles away at no charge.  Gallery Furniture is glad to help this woman in her time of grief and need, with an extra bit of service that solves a problem in a hurry.

----

Which brings up another story of people in Houston at an uncertain time.  I got a call from a man who said his wife was getting chemotherapy at M. D. Anderson.  They don't live in Houston, so they had rented an apartment near the hospital.  A few weeks ago they went to another furniture store to buy furniture for the apartment.

The day they were supposed to move in arrived but their furniture wasn't in the apartment and when the man called to ask about delivery, he was told it wouldn't be delivered that day.  He told the folks at the other store that his wife was sick, getting chemotherapy, and they really needed the furniture.  He was told that was too bad -- no delivery that day.

This man cancelled his order and came to Gallery Furniture, where he had been told he'd get same day delivery.  He bought furniture for the apartment and two hours later the Gallery Furniture delivery truck was there and his wife had a place to rest.

Gallery Furniture's business is selling furniture, but I don't want to forget that it is people buying the furniture, people who should be treated like they matter.  At Gallery Furniture, our customers do matter, and that's why going the extra mile for a customer is something I stress.  It doesn't matter why you come in the store, you deserve great customer service and you'll get it at Gallery Furniture.  If you don't -- tell me.  I'm here most of the time and ready to talk to you -- and I might even answer the phone.

Gallery Furniture - Experts in Oriental & Persian Rugs - Delivered, of course, TODAY

Gallery Furniture has a staff of experts in the rug department that can assist every Houstonian in finding the rug that is right for their living room, hallway, bedroom, guestroom home office, foyer, or any part of their Houston home TODAY.

Gallery Furniture's Rug Department features the finest in hand-crafted, hand-woven, hand-tufted rugs from all over the world - Houston, your one stop rug store is Gallery Furniture, with rugs available from all over the world and available for immediate delivery.  What's more, many satisfied Gallery Furniture Rug Department customers simply pack up their Houston car with the rug and take it home that minute.  Talk about same day delivery!

Gallery Furniture can delivery any rug TODAY - as with all of Gallery Furniture's selection.  Here's a Gallery Furniture video with Fred, the head of the Gallery Furniture Rug Department, going over the great selection you will find in the Gallery Furniture Rug Department:

Welcome Back Gallery

When was the last time you invited a delivery person back to your home?  That's what I thought.  It's unusual for a delivery person to be someone you'd like to come back -- unless that delivery person is from Gallery Furniture.

Here's an example.  Bonnie came into Gallery Furniture Wednesday afternoon and bought a new Tempur-Pedic mattress.  Her husband is ill and has had trouble sleeping on a regular bed.  She bought the mattress shortly after four pm and she left the store about 4:30.

By 6:15, the Gallery Furniture delivery truck was in front of her house and Omar and Jay Jay, two members of our delivery team, were ready to set up the new mattress.

That did not take too long, and half an hour later Omar and Jay Jay were ready to leave.

Bonnie didn't let them leave without an invitation though -- she told Omar she'll want them to come back and make her delivery the next time she buys furniture.

That's not what I hear about the other stores unfortunately.  Day after day people tell me about buying something at another Houston furniture store and waiting for weeks for a delivery that doesn't come, or comes in pieces, and about delivery people who damage their walls and floors and leave a mess behind them.

I hear a different story from Gallery Furniture customers. That's because our deliveries are made by people who work for Gallery Furniture -- they're not contractors or some guys with a truck.  They're trained people, who know how to take care of your furniture and take care of your home.

When was the last time you invited a delivery person back to your home?

That's one of my goals.  I want you to be happy with your delivery, so happy that you'd be glad to see the Gallery Furniture truck pull up in front of your house again.

The next time you think about buying furniture, think about the whole package -- the furniture, the price, the delivery, the service after the sale.  Then come to Gallery Furniture where you'll get it all.  That's a promise backed by Mack!