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

Great Customers, Kind Words

From the Inbox

Gallery Furniture receives a lot of wonderful mail from its great customers.  These kinds words about the service are never forgotten, and they are certainly not lost at all.  Gallery Furniture makes sure that the appropriate staff are informed and we even go over the letters at the meeting.  A lot of times, folks wonder if their letter regarding the great service they received ever gets shown to the employees, and it does.  More than that, we'll show the world how our customers and the community feel about their Gallery Furniture experience.

So here's a small sample of letters from the inbox at Gallery Furniture:

Hey Mack!

I just made my first purchase from Gallery Furniture and I have to say that I was just blown away by your staff.  They are amazing.  Not only were they professional and courteous, but they were all so knowledgeable about each of the items that I inquired about.  Melanie, Fred, Myra, and Laura were fantastic and really helped me out.  Even the two gentlemen who delivered the furniture that evening were just top notch.  Congrats to all of them for truly personifying what customer service is all about, and congrats to you for having such a high class staff!

Joe C.
The Heights
Houston, TX

Thanks, Joe!  Glad to hear that Melanie, Fred, and the gang got your furniture just the way you wanted - and that Gallery Furniture was able to deliver the same day!

Dear Mack,

My husband and I recently purchased a Tempur-Pedic bed (which we are completely satisfied with - my husband no longer snores, so you made our relationship that much better).  We also love the new bed frame.  The two gentlemen - one named Jim (and I have forgotten the other Sales Associate's name, who originally assisted us with our purchase) - were both helpful.  Jim most especially, he continually went out of his way to make us more comfortable, and gave us time to think over our purchases.

The day our bed was originally delivered, unfortunately the driver to attach the bed rails alone and the head board came crashing down, damaging the crashing down, damaging the headboard and side rails.  In spite of the driver's choice to have a wood tech repair the internal and external damage, I called Gallery Furniture and spoke to Laura for assistance.  She immediately checked and another headboard and rails were ordered.  Laura was very helpful and understanding, she made me at ease right away. 

Today, 02-23-2008, Henry and David delivered the new replacement pieces.  Unlike the first delivery, today I received the best and most courteous service I have ever received.  Henry and David are truly "Top Notch."

Thanks to Laura, Henry and David, a tragic experience turned wonderful.

Thank you to you and your Human Resource Division for selecting such professional and courteous personnel staff with regards to Jim, Laura, Henry, and David.

With Sincere Appreciation,

Doug and Maryann H.
Sugar Land, TX

Doug and Maryann, Gallery Furniture appreciates your business and we are sure glad we could turn things around for you!  We are also happy that everything worked out in the end.  We're proud of our delivery and service staff here at Gallery Furniture, they are truly top notch indeed!

If someone could get this to Mr. Mack!

My family and I went to Gallery Furniture on Sunday (02/24/08) and everything was great.  We had just come back from Dallas, TX from a Free Throw Hoop Shoot contest that morning and we met Mr. Mack.  I took two pictures of my three girls with him and this is something I always wanted to do as a little girl.  I have always thought he is awesome and still is!  Please tell him that he made my girls' day and sometimes that little 2 or 3 minutes can change everything.  I hope he is able to read this, because there are people that truly believe in what he does.  Have a great day!!

Sincerely,

April A.
Baytown, TX

April, Gallery Furniture believes in what you believe - it is all about the little things.  From customer service to stopping for pictures, every employee at Gallery Furniture wants to deliver you outstanding customer service from YOUR point of view.  And we're happy to be there for you and your family at Gallery Furniture.

Mack,

I came in there yesterday and bought a dinette set, and Martha was my Sales Associate.  She was very knowledgeable, nice, and professional, and I wanted Mack to know that.  The cashier was very nice and efficient, too.  The delivery was set between noon and six p.m. and the two guys got there right at 3:00 p.m.  They, too, were very efficient and professional.  I would definitely recommend Gallery Furniture to my family and friends, as well as being a return customer!

Thank You!

Carla S.
Richmond, TX

Gallery Furniture does believe in great customer service, saving you money, and of course - in delivering your great Houston furniture the same day you buy it!  Thanks Carla for providing us the opportunity to serve you!

Dear Mr. McIngvale,

We want to express our appreciation to you and your staff one the excellent service we received recently.

February 6,2008, with the help of Boxer Greg and Greg, we were able to furnish our new home in Canyon Lake, Texas.  This was a monumental task which these gentlemen met with the highest standard of service.  Their help and advice made a long selection process very productive and worthwhile.  Our home looks beautiful. 

The furniture was delivered timely on February 11, 2008 by two young men who again provided excellent customer service.  They were patient with some of placement indecision.  Everything was professionally assembled and properly placed per our request.  They were extremely hard-working and efficient. 

We want to give these employees our sincere thanks and appreciation for a job well done.  We also want to thank you for providing such fine quality merchandise to chose form in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. It was indeed a pleasure doing business with all of you. 

Sincerely,

Wayne and Ruth Ann L.
Canyon Lake, TX

Thank you, Ruth and Wayne.  Gallery Furniture loves the full household challenge!  We've furnished entire houses the same day (within three hours) of the customer leaving the store.  Gallery Furniture is proud of its service and its delivery capabilities, and we are equally glad to have brough this level of service all the way to Canyon Lake, Texas!

Jim,

You spoke last night to our Methodist Men's Brotherhood Banquet in Liberty.  Because I have heard you speak several times - even introduced you twice - I took my 13 year old grandson.  I felt you were the type of person he needed to hear from.  He was mesmerized.  Afterwards he asked a lot of questions about you and what you had to say.  Truly he was influenced and you made the right kind of difference in that one young boy's life and so I want to thank you.  Right now he has his heart set on going to West Point in about 5 years or so.  When you said your nephew did that it was what first grabbed his attention.  I speak to a lot of groups of kids... I hope that I have made one tenth of the positive impression you made on that one young boy, Key Buchanan, last night.  Thank you again.  What you say and do doe make a difference - in this case - one kid at a time.

Bill B.
Liberty, Texas

Bill, I am excited to go out and speak to the public and I enjoy talking with today's youth - they are growing up in a new age of technology and it is exciting to know that the same dreams extend age to age, generation to generation - that of achieving a quality education at a premiere institution, of seeing to greatness, and so on.  I am glad to hear your grandson has solid goals and with the right mental attitude - he will achieve them.  Thank you for your kind letter and bringing your kind words to my attention.  My best to Key.

-------------------------

Well, folks, this is just a bit of the great mail we get here at Gallery Furniture, your number one Houston furniture store for traditional, transitional, and contemporary furniture.  From Beaumont to Liberty, from Sugar Land to Lake Canyon, from the Heights to Midtown, Gallery Furniture delivers. 

Mrs. L in New Orleans - Delivery with a Little Lagniappe!

The Gallery Furniture Delivery Team went to the Crescent City of New Orleans to make a delivery happen for a valued New Orleans customer by the name of Mrs. L  - here is the report received from Scotty Rancour, a Gallery Furniture Delivery Team Member!

"Hi Mack,

I just wanted to follow-up with you on a very special and emotional delivery we did to the beautiful city of New Orleans last Sunday evening.  Myself and my driver Ricky Tello went to see a Mrs. L on Acacia Street in eastern New Orleans (a bit outside Metairie and south of the New Orleans International Airport).  The ticket that was generated by the Gallery Furniture Service Department was real simple - the instructions were "to put together a queen poster bed for customer."

Mack, When I was greeted, Mrs. L was so excited to see us.  Turns out that Mrs. L had escaped the destruction of Hurricane Katrina by leaving a few days before Katrina hit.  Mrs. L's house had been completely remodeled and she was very proud of the work done.  Besides the queen bed we were sent to put together, Mrs. L had told us that she had a "house full of Gallery Furniture."  Well, Mack, Mrs. L did have a New Orleans house full of Gallery Furniture.  Problem was that all of her Gallery Furniture was still in boxes since December!

Turns out that Mrs. L did not have the opportunity to assemble the furniture as the flooring had not been completed.  She had the furniture in boxes since December!  Naturally, Ricky and I went ahead and assembled all the furniture and Mrs. L had asked if we would be hauling off the additional boxes outside - of course we said "yes ma'am" and then I told her that her home was about to be transformed the way so many New Orleans homes had - with beautiful home furniture and accessories from Gallery Furniture (the Gulf Coast leader in home furniture!).

While Ricky and I assembled the furniture for Mrs. L., we spoke at length and I have to say that Mrs. L has a heart of gold.  We set up her two beautiful bedroom sets, an immaculate table and six chair formal dining room set (complete with hutch and buffet).  Sadly, Mrs. L had lost loved ones during Katrina and she told the harrowing tales of what Katrina did not just to her family, but to her home and community as well.  I then asked Mrs. L where she had escaped to, and she said that she had stayed in Tomball.

Well, I just smiled and said - "Mrs. L - I live in Tomball!"  and we both laughed and shared a moment.  Like you are always fond of quoting from Pope John Paul II, Mack, in life "there is no such thing as mere coincidence."  In the end, this was one of the most emotional moments during a delivery in the five years I have been with Gallery Furniture.

After a bit, we had managed to get all of the furniture Mrs. L had assembled and in the appropriate place as well as hauling out the extra boxes Mrs. L had outside.  Mack, the funny thing about the purchase Mrs. L made was that this nice little old lady did all of her shopping by using GalleryFurniture.com and calling up the Internet Sales Division and getting a sales associate to help her out.  Like so many Americans, Mack, she decided that the Internet was the fast way to get what she needed, and she was very pleased with the way the furniture in her home looked!  In Mrs. L's own words: "the furniture is beautiful and perfect!"  People really do believe in and trust GalleryFurniture.com!

Before we left we told Mrs. L to drop by anytime she was in Houston to see us and she said "okay!"

Thanks for letting me make this run as part of the Gallery Furniture Delivery Team, Mack!

Regards,

Scotty"

We are proud to hear that Mrs. L has rebuilt her home in New Orleans and filled it with furniture from Gallery Furniture.  Folks like Mrs. L are the reason that New Orleans can retain its beauty, charm, and character.  And Gallery Furniture is happy to help customers like Mrs. L live up to the statement 'Forever New Orlenas'!

One More Delivery, One More Fascinating Customer Story

Gallery Furniture is proud to deliver the same quality Houston furniture a customer sees inside the store to their Houston home. Turns out one of the Gallery Furniture Delivery Team Members (Scotty Rancour) drove out to a Cypresswood home and delivered a great reclining sofa to one of our Houston area customers and she relayed to us a very interesting tale about what happened at another Houston furniture store.  Here's Scotty's report...

"Hey Mack!

I just wanted to share an awesome delivery experience we had with of our great Gallery Furniture customers in the Cypresswood area of Houston.  Mrs. A bought a Lane Home Furnishings gorgeous Falcon Tan Reclining Sofa from Gallery Furniture and Ricky and myself had the opportunitu to deliver it to Mrs. A's home.

While we were getting ready to set up the Houston recliner for Mrs. A she had asked if it would be possible for us to move a sofa she already had over to the garage. Naturally, we said "no problem" and then (out of pure curiosity) I inquried as to why she was moving it to her Houston garage.  Mrs. A said that she had picked out the soon-to-be-returned sofa at The Dump and when she sat on it she had explained to The Dump Salesperson she wanted the sofa she was sitting on.  The Dump Salesperson said she could have that one.  Well, the sofa The Dump sent was not the one – Mrs. A said it was saggy and not the same comfort as the one in the store.  Mrs. A knew right away that The Dump had not given her the right sofa.  That is why she came to Gallery Furniture - to get the Houston furniture she wanted.

Mrs. A was very pleased with Gallery Furniture, and she loved the Lane Falcon-Tan reclining sofa we brought into her spacious Houston living room.  So happy was Mrs. A that she thanked both of us (myself and the driver Ricky) many times, and especially for moving her Dump sofa over to the garage so it can begin its trip back to The Dump.

Promises.  If you make them, you have to keep them.  Which is what we do at Gallery Furniture, Mack!  And that is why we love to do what we do at Gallery Furniture!

Regards,

Scotty R.
Gallery Furniture Delivery Team Member"

A big thanks to Scotty on our Gallery Furniture deliver team and a really big thanks to Mrs. A for letting us tell her story.  Gallery Furniture - the furniture you want, delivered to your home the same day you buy it - come on by!

The Road to the Miss Gallery Funriture Crown Begins... TODAY!

The Road to the Miss Gallery Furniture Crown...

Gallery Furniture is very excited to be announcing its first-ever Miss Gallery Furniture contest, and the store was buzzing with acitivity starting at 5:00 a.m. this morning when women of many ages and backgrounds showed up to bring their best as they audtioned on tape for the coveted Miss Gallery Furniture position.  The winner, who will be decided by a panel of Houston celebrity judges (no Gallery Furniture employees are part of the judging committee) will review the video taped auditions.  The crowning of Miss Gallery Furniture will take place on Friday, Feburary 22nd.

Gallery Furniture ran the contest from 5:00 a.m. til 10:00 a.m. this morning, and many thanks go out to all of the kind support that Gallery Furniture received for the event - the folks at Love Advertising here in Houston did a great job in getting the word out to the local media and NBC's KPRC Channel 2 came out and did some coverage on the event with Houston's own KODA-FM 99.1 came out and performed a morning remote from the Gallery Furniture location.

Miss Gallery Furniture will hold a special place in the Gallery Furniture family, as she will help out by making commercials and also serving at various functions for Gallery Furniture.  Exciting, fun, challenging, and rewarding are all ways to describe this unique and highly coveted Miss Gallery Furniture position - and this will certainly by a challenge to decide from among all the talented and wonderful Houstonians that came out today to audition. 

Gallery Furniture anxiously awaits the decision from the Houston Celebrity Judge panel for the first ever Miss Gallery Furniture, who will help spread the word about how Gallery Furniture is your number one Houston furniture store for everything from traditional to contemporary to home theater and interior design - and most of all, how Gallery Furniture will save you money and deliver... TODAY!

Here are some pics from the day's fun activities as we venture down the road to the crown for the first Miss Gallery Furniture.

Set up takes time - test the lights, test the camera, and start prepping for the crowds here at Houston's number one furniture store, Gallery Furniture.

Billie from Love Advertising of Houston gets ready to hold up cue cards for the auditioning folks for Miss Gallery Furniture.

Ready, set, shoot!  Every audition for Miss Gallery Furniture was top-notch!

Through the lens... the Love Advertising camer crew performs excellent work to aid Gallery Furniture in the selection process.

The Love Advertising Team takes some needed time for the lens out front of Houston's number one furniture store, Gallery Furniture, as they make time to smile for the lens in the rather chilly Houston morning.

Gallery Furniture was visited by a remote from Houston's own Sunny 99.1 in celebration of the search for Miss Gallery Furniture!

Over the Top Delivery -- Actually Going Over the Top!

Gallery Furniture is one Houston furniture store that will deliver furniture to New Orleans, and Gallery trucks are in the Crescent City every week.

One couple, Kimberly and Frederick, had a large delivery to New Orleans this week.  They had purchased a Kreiss "Atlas" leather king-sized bed, a mattress and box springs, a Diamond pub table with four stools,  a Diamond multi-function cabinet, and a Diamond plasma TV cart for their downtown New Orleans condo.

Now, as delivery team members Scott and Ricky put it, for the "fun" stuff.

Scott says they had a "very tight spiral staircase going upstairs to the second floor master bedroom that we barely got the enormous king sized mattress and box springs set through to the master suite."

But the massive leather Kreiss "Atlas" headboard was too big.  So after several attempts Scott and Ricky decided it was time for "Plan B."

Scott picks up the story.

"Frederick and Kimberly had a patio with a 25 foot wall leading up to the roof of their condo.  We then gave their immaculate Kreiss leather headboard a custom total blanket wrap that even Martha Stewart would love.

"Then Ricky went up to the roof after tying a saftey rope to the Kreiss piece, Frederick and I raised the headboard as high as we could.  Thank you Frederick!

"Ricky pulled the headboard up with Frederick making sure he didn't do a gainer on me!

"After Ricky picked up the headboard, we carefully put the Kreiss leather piece through a wide window into the master bedroom.  The ledge on the roof was about as wide as the desk at the front of Gallery Furniture.

"Mack, Frederick and Kimberly were so happy and so was I.  You tell us every day to do whatever it takes to take care of the customer and that's what Ricky and I did.

"I want to thank Kimberly and Frederick for helping us tape up the Kreiss headboard, for being patient with us, and letting us try every possible method to move it before going vertical!"

Folks, when I say Gallery Furniture delivers your furniture TODAY, I mean it.  The people delivering your furniture in Houston, Austin, or New Orleans work for Gallery Furniture.  They're not contractors or someone who was looking for a little extra work.  They are employees, trained to deliver your furniture and encouraged to go the extra mile to make sure you are happy.

Scott and Ricky did just that in New Orleans.  They took the time, the effort, and the care to make sure the delivery went well.  A tip of my Gallery Furniture cap to them!

A Race Against Time: Yet Another Amazing Delivery Story!

Gallery Furniture is known for being the only furniture store in Houston that offers exceptional same day delivery of everything in the giant 100,000 square foot showroom.

But Gallery Furniture does not stop there.  Gallery Furniture provides great Houston customers with the world's fastest furniture deliveries so that they waste no time in enjoying their new. Here is yet another story about  record time deliveries by our fantastic delivery team!

A great couple came to the store looking to furnish their Houston high rise loft with stylish contemporary furniture that was sure to give their home the modern look they wanted.  They had heard that Gallery Furniture has an entire showroom of contemporary leather and fabric living room sets, sleek accent tables, and classy dining room sets so they decided to stop it at about 2:30 in the afternoon.  With the help of their terrific salesmen they found the perfect contemporary sectional, dining room, and accent chairs made by Diamond, an exclusive contemporary furniture line only at Gallery Furniture, in only an hour's time!  Also, they picked out a great King Size bed made by Kinwai that they also knew would look fantastic in their home.  By 4:10 all of their furniture was loaded onto a Gallery Furniture truck and on it's way to their home.

A Diamond Contemporary Sectional Available at Gallery Furniture

A Contemporary Bed by Kinwai

Here is where the job got tricky!  The freight elevator at the high rise was to close at 5:00 PM so the delivery guys set out on a challenge to get to the customer's residence as quick as possible and get all the furniture up to their loft on the 20th floor before the elevator closed for the evening.  It was a race against the clock but our delivery guys made it to the customer's residence promptly at 4:30 and carefully moved all of their furniture into their loft in only 20 minutes!  In only 2 1/2 hours time these customers selected, purchased, and received their new Houston furniture - that is truly amazing!

There is no other furniture delivery team in the world that can do what Gallery Furniture does day in and day out.  Folks, if you are looking for quality furniture at great prices and you can't wait to start enjoying it TODAY then you need to stop in at Gallery Furniture! 

Gallery Furniture at the Home and Garden Show

Gallery Furniture is at the 2008 Texas Home and Garden Show in a big way this weekend.

Gallery has eight displays -- or vignettes -- in the show at the Reliant Center through Sunday.

The vignettes feature Home Theater systems, the Kreiss collection of outdoor furniture, Tempur-Pedic and Hästens mattresses, and brand new contemporary furniture designs.

The hit of the whole show may be a new contemporary bed.  This is a prototype from Noah and not available for sale yet, but it could be soon.  This connected bed features a radio/CD player, DVD player, a connection for your iPod, internet connections, and a work tray, all done  up in merlot-colored leather.  Take a look at this unusual bed when you visit the 2008 Texas Home and Garden show at Reliant Center.

If you'd like to save a dollar on admission, print a coupon from www.galleryfurniture.com.

Tempur-Pedic Helps Vet

I've been saying it for a long time.  A new Tempur-Pedic^® mattress can ease your back pain and help you get a good night's sleep.

I say that because people who sleep on a Tempur-Pedic from Gallery Furniture tell me how much the mattress has  helped them.

An Iraq vet is the latest customer to tell me about his experience with a Tempur-Pedic.

Ernie was injured while serving in Iraq.  He had to have disks in his back fused after the injury.  He says that for the first two weeks after surgery he could not sleep, even with strong pain medication.

So he decided to come to Gallery Furniture to look at a Tempur-Pedic sleep system and bought one.

Ernie says it was delivered that afternoon and he slept through the night.

"It has really changed my life," he says, "And it has allowed me to rest and  heal."

I'm happy that a new Tempur-Pedic from Gallery Furniture helped Ernie with his back problems and glad that he chose Gallery Furniture out of all the furniture stores in Houston when it was time to buy.

Gallery Furniture says thank you to Ernie, and all of the men and women who have served or are serving in Iraq.

TV For The Troops Update

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.

They Said No, Gallery Furniture Said Yes!

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!