I don't care how many tennis tournements, or lame-ass bowl games he brings to Houston, I wish Mattress Mac could be put in the cone of silence (or something equivalent) so I would never have to hear his braying, self-promoting ass again. I realise that there are plenty of annoying people advertising all over the place, but Mac seems to be the most ubiquitous. Maybe I should stop listening to 610 so much, but you can't get away from this guy! What I really object to is how he incorporates any local, or national tragedy to sell his crap. Shameless. Last year after tropical storm Allison, he was running ads with fictional customers calling up to buy *two* new projection screen tvs...suuuure! The post 9-11 shop-here-to-keep-the-nation-strong ad campagin by Mac was even more offensive. If he would have been around in 1963, you can bet there would have been a JFK rememberance sell-a-bration by early December. I would pay someone a lot of money to hit him in the face with a sock filled with manure. I will stop venting now, but does anybody share my basic disgust with this guy?
I go back and forth on this guy...on one hand, i agree with you as to exploitation, etc...on the other, I see a guy who has done a lot for the community. but if you believe gallery furniture will save you money...you're wrong! you gotta pay for all that overhead somehow..and it ain't by cutting prices!
Have you ever noticed how its alwys the same person doing the "Phone Calls"? I hate that part. Atleast get someone else to call in.
hey..at least Mac talks to his callers, though!! stinking Ray Childress answers the phone and then puts it down to start talking to the camera!!! how rude is that???
I have bought stuff from him twice, both times I felt like I got screwed. The only reason I bought there was because they give credit like there is no tomorrow. Oh, You have no job, bad credit and 3 bankruptcies, here is a 4,000 credit line. I will never by from there again, sure you gave me a piece of cake, free pizza, a t-shirt and a basketball, but I just paid 3500$ for a some $hitty furniture. on a side note: I remember when he came to my elementary school like in 1988 and was talking about drug use and getting the monkey off your back and I was like what the hell is he smoking... but Carl Lewis was there and he ruled! edit: I have to say that Gallery does deliver there stuff the same day which is really awesome. Even if they do show up at 1am in the morning and were suppose to be there before 9pm...
By FAR, the worst commercial I have ever seen is his imitation of Ozzie Osborn. I wanted to just puke when I saw that.
Mac can be annoying, but this man knows customer service: In 1989, my family moved into a new house in Bay Forest (Clear Lake subdivision) and we still hadn't gotten furniture for my bedroom. So I was faced with the prospect of buy something fast or sleep on the floor. I was 19 and had a definite idea of what I wanted my bedroom to look like, and the one place that had the suite I wanted said it would take 6 weeks to order. So, in desperation, my father and I set off for Gallery Furniture. He was certain we would only be disappointed (he's a perfectionist and a pessimist -- a lethal combination). We got there at 9 p.m. Not only did they have the exact set I wanted, but their guys delivered it (in an unmarked van no less) and set it up at 11:30 p.m. that night. To top it off, Mac personally called my father the next day to make sure he was happy with his purchase. You should have seen my dad's face when he got off the phone! In addition, he does do a lot for the community. He's currently sponsoring an essay contest to choose 300 high school kids to take to a tennis competition in Paris. How cool is that? Wishing I could pass for a 17-year-old...
Oh yes....I only saw it once, thank God, but he did it. Some announcer comes on and says some thing like "Here at Gallery Furniture, the biggest star today has taken over" (or some **** like that, I don't remember exactly), then cut to Mattress Mac in Ozzie wig, black eye shadow and bad English accent, telling you about his latest sale. It was horrendous.
Mattress Mac is one of my heroes!! The guy rolled into Houston with a couple hundred bucks, and became a millionaire by working his tail off. He promotes our city around the world, and adds millions to our local economy. Everybody in this town benefits from his actions. Westside has now become the number one offseason basketball facility in the country, and Houston gets showcased for NBA free agents. The Rocket's players improve by playing top competition here, and FAs consider the Rockets more readily. Mac gives millions away to charity. If he want to yell "GALLERY FURNITURE" loudly while helping people, that is fine by me. I have a friend who went on a buying trip to North Carolina with Mac. He really does buy quality all wood furniture in volume, and offer it to the Houston market at a fair price. Couple this strategy with the customer service that Mrs. JB mentioned, add easy financing, and he has a furniture business model that can't be beat. We need more people like Mac in our community.
Hahaha. I think he was probably still on drugs at that time. I know he used to be a big drug user a while ago (I know someone who used to buy from the same person Mac bought from). I don't know how publicly known that is/was or not, but as I understand it, he's clean now. Reminds me of when Robert Reid (Rockets player) came to talk to us about staying off drugs, then got arrested for it a week later. I don't care though. I LOVE GALLERY FURNITURE!! Although I've never been there, it's just a Houston landmark and Mac is an icon!
I'm so glad someone brought this up because I think if it wasn't for the drugs, he wouldn't be where he is today... I've heard a few story's much like the one posted by Vengeance and I believe them... I think it's pretty well know that Mac dabbled in cocaine among other things. I have shopped at Gallery Furniture once within the past few years and was happy with our purchase but the push to use their over-inflated interest rate credit program was too much... the bowling alley and cookies, cakes, candy, soda's and mini-museum was almost sensory overload... but hey, whatever works... I will say that Mac has an awesome collection of Rockets memorabilia... if anything, just stop in to see Hakeem's shoes and other Rockets stuff, but look out for the high-pressure sales staff to buy something on credit!
I remember how last year Mac made a big deal about how he played football for Darrell Royal and the National Champion Texas Longhorns. There's a difference between "played for" and "I was on the scout team and transferred after the season". Hell back in the days of unlimited players, I could have been on the team.
Mac's a businessman and he knows how to make money. So anything he does to "help" someone is simply public relations. Good deeds get repeated ("did you know Mac did such-and-such?") Living in Houston last year, his radio and TV ads sickened me. After September 11, he wrapped himself and his store in the flag, "gave away" flag T-shirts, played "patriotic" music (I love the U.S., too, but jeez, let's ease up on the throttle). Of course, the whole idea was to keep America's economy rolling after 9/11 by buying expensive furniture from him. Again, he is a salesman, I'm not, he makes lots of $$$, I don't, so we know who gets the last laugh on this. But the guy is shameless.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he produce the Chuck Norris crapfest movie "Sidekicks"? For that alone, he must be terminated. I'm glad Mac is promoting the city of Houston (no really, I am), but once he starts peddling his wares to outsiders (non-Houstonians) using marketing tricks like "Gallery Furniture Bowl," the could've been "Gallery Furniture Field," and possible (ok, but unlikely) things down the road like "Houston Gallery Furniture International Airport," "Gallery Furniture County," and "NASA at Gallery Furniture Building," don't you think he's gone too far? I think Mac is kooky and somewhat likeable (but slightly irritating), BUT he... must... be... stopped... For the good of Houston. We don't want our city becoming synonymous with a furniture store shaped like a tent. We already have the Enron stigma to contend with. No mas, por favor. Mac must be contained (like the U.S. tried with communism during the Cold War).
