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

Gallery Furniture After the Fire

(Hamilton Masters posting for Mack)

It has been a busy three days since the fire that destroyed the Gallery Furniture warehouse and there is no sign it will be letting up any time soon.

That's why this post is being done on behalf of Mack, who is the busiest of all of the staff at Gallery Furniture.

As you know, the fire Thursday night gutted the warehouse behind the main store at 6006 I-45 North. 

There was concern that night that the fire would spread to the store and destroy it as well.  Thanks to the work of the Houston Fire Department and its brave firefighters, the store survived.  There is smoke and water damage of course, and it will be a while before it can be re-opened, but it will be back and better than ever.

Earlier this year Gallery Furniture opened a new store on Post Oak Boulevard.  That is the main showroom for the near future.

Friday's main effort was finding temporary warehouse space.  By three p.m., Gallery Furniture had a warehouse rented and within minutes crews began unloading trucks that had arrived with new furniture.  Overnight, the warehouse was organized and by Saturday morning deliveries were being made from there.

Gallery Furniture was getting phone calls and emails of support even before the fire was out overnight Thursday.  Friday morning a Messages to Mack board was set up on the www.GalleryFurniture.com web site and it was immediately overwhelmed with messages.  You can read them at the Message Board.

Saturday and Sunday were busy days as the Gallery Furniture staff continued to set up the new warehouse, unload furniture, and load our trucks for deliveries.  And seeing lots of customers!

Some of you said you were coming in to show your support of Mack and Gallery Furniture, moving up a planned purchase or deciding to buy furniture instead of something else.  Hearing such comments from customers warms our hearts.  Mack has shared some of the conversations he's had with customers and there's no doubt he has been moved.

Especially by the young man who came in with money he has been saving to buy an iPod and told Mack "you need it more than I do."

There have been a number of such offers, and people who have sent food, called and asked if they can push a broom at the warehouse or answer the phone, or do anything to help.

You cannot know how much all of your expressions of love and support, and your prayers, mean to Mack, the McIngvale family, and all of the employees.

Thank you, Houston.

Long Distance Furniture Shopping

Gallery Furniture has a lot of people who come to the store from all over Texas, and there have been people who bought here for delivery in a faraway place, but here's a story of shopping from a long distance away for delivery closer to home.

Franklin is an oil industry consultant who spends a lot of time in Africa.  Back in 2006, while he was working in Nigeria, he and his wife Yulia wanted to furnish a house in New Braunfels. But, as Franklin puts it, they would not have much time toshop before having to go back to Africa.  So they used the internet and www.GalleryFurniture.com to shop for new furniture from Nigeria, making a lot of use of the store camera system.

On a trip back to Texas, Yulia and Franklin landed at Bush Intercontinental about 3:30 PM, drove to Gallery Furniture, and in an hour and a half had picked out a house full of furniture.  Gallery delivered it to New Braunfels the next day.

Since then, they have moved to a house in Houston.  Hurricane Ike was not good to them.  They lost their dining room and living room furniture to water in the house.  So this time, Franklin said, "We came back to Gallery Furniture because we knew we could get what we needed without wasting a lot time."

And that's exactly what they did Wednesday.

Yulia and Franklin discovered one of the advantages of the Gallery Furniture web site.  You can browse through the furniture selection online, choose the pieces you are interested in, and bring that list to the store.  You can shop from the comfort of home and shorten the time it takes to choose your new furniture.

Gallery Furniture knows your time is important.  That's why Gallery Furniture's web site has a large catalog of in-stock furniture online.  That's why Gallery Furniture is ready to deliver your  new furniture the same day you buy it. 

Gallery Furniture will save  you money -- and time --  TODAY!

Gallery Furniture Makes Your Shopping Easier with GalleryFurniture.com

Gallery Furniture is always working to make it easier for you to get the furniture you want TODAY! Gallery Furniture understands that it can be difficult to make time for a trip to our store; sometimes it’s simpler to handle things from the comfort of your home. And because customer service is the foundation of Gallery Furniture’s business, we’ve made that possible.

For questions about particular pieces of furniture, there is a button on the item details page that allows you to e-mail Gallery Furniture. Just click the ‘Click to Email’ button and fill out the form. Your e-mail goes straight to a secure mailbox that is checked frequently so that your questions are answered very quickly!

Gallery Furniture will also take your orders over the phone when you're ready – just find your item online, call with the SKU number, and enjoy your furniture in your home tonight if you order by ten p.m. within the hundred-mile Gallery Furniture same day delivery radius. With people always available to take your call, you won’t have to wait to order the perfect furniture! 

Save that gas money for your family!  Enjoy the convenience of online shopping with Gallery Furniture TODAY!

Another Gallery Furniture Customer Discovers the Joy of Shopping from the Convenience of Home

Gallery Furniture's Cutsomer Service Department made a late-night sale...

Kathy P. of Houston bought this set off of GalleryFurniture.com and over the phone...

Kathy P. of Houston, TX called Gallery Furniture at 9:55 last night... and Laura from the Customer Service Department picked up the phone.

Kathy P. said that "I asked Laura what time Gallery Furniture closed, and she said '10:00 p.m.' so I replied that I can call back in the morning... Laura then tells me 'Ma'am, I can help you, what do you need?"

Turns out it was a great night for Kathy P. - she had used our easy to find Gallery Furniture Saves You Money Card application, and some great Home Office Furniture at GalleryFurniture.com and (without ever seeing the furniture) came in and bought it all over the phone.  As Kathy P. said:

"It was the most amazing experience - within 25 minutes I had credit approval, order completed, and set up for delivery on Saturday morning [April 19th] - they just left not that long ago, and we are completely satisfied, and the delivery guys were so nice and professional, it was wonderful!  I never had to leave my home, and I got all my furniture shopping done using GalleryFurniture.com and a phone call thanks to Laura!"

Laura, seen here on the phone, works tirelessly day in and day out from 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. taking care of Galery Furniture customers just like Kathy P.!

Folks, we take care of all our customers at Gallery Furniture, and we encourage you to heavily use GalleryFurniture.com for your selection needs!

Going Home Again, A Story of Hope

There are people you meet who impress you with their quiet strength and dignity.  I want to introduce you to two of them, a couple who came into Gallery Furniture looking to furnish their house in New Orleans.

There's more to the story of Melvina and DeWitt McMillian looking for new furniture.  They left New Orleans two years ago when Hurricane Katrina blew in.  Melvina says it was the first time she had ever left New Orleans for a storm, but as she put it, "God gave us the sense to get out."

The couple expected to spend a day or two in a hotel.  Things did not work out that way.  Their house had nine and half feet of water in it, and the water stayed for thirteen days.

The McMillians stopped in Orange, Texas at first.  They could not find a hotel room and were directed to a shelter at a church there.  A woman came into the shelter and invited them to services at another church on Sunday.  They went and met a man who offered them a house, rent-free.  This Good Samaritan even put them up in his own home while getting the other house ready.

Then Hurricane Rita blew in and the McMillians were evacuated again, to Houston.  The house in Orange was damaged by the second storm, so they stayed here.

Now, after two years, their home in New Orleans has been repaired -- rebuilt really -- and they are moving back next week.

Melvina says she came to Gallery Furniture after browsing our web site at GalleryFurniture.com.  She was just looking, she said, but she decided that she'd buy everything at Gallery Furniture after she saw the beautiful furniture in the store and the reasonable prices. Melvina says people who helped her, Matt and Boxer, let her take her time and pick out just the right furniture.

Next week Gallery Furniture will be delivering living room, bedroom, and dining room furniture to their home.

The best way to end this posting is with words from the McMillians.  Melvina says the last two years prove that "God is good."

"We're coming back," DeWitt says.