gallery furniture
As flames ripped through one of Houston’s most notable retail icons Thursday night, Gallery Furniture founder Jim McIngvale vowed to rebuild.
But McIngvale, who earned fame with his colorful commercials and self-imposed moniker of Mattress Mack, acknowledged “millions and millions” in dollars of merchandise had been damaged in his flagship store’s warehouse.
To his employees he promised, “We won’t quit.”
A few firefighters remained as dawn approached today, looking out for flare-ups. They planned to continue pouring water until heavy equipment could be brought in to pull away the remains of the hulking warehouse and expose any leftover hot spots.
Gallery Furniture — one of Houston’s brightest success stories, known as the store where Mattress Mack will “save you money” — faced serious damage as the four-alarm fire ripped through its warehouse in the 6000 block of the North Freeway near Parker.
But fire crews successfully kept the blaze from spreading to the store’s 100,000-square-foot showroom — the area visited by the public — during a two and a half hour battle. Morning commuters on the freeway slowed to look at the warehouse wreckage.
McIngvale said it was premature to speculate about the fate of the main store’s contents.
“Realistically, we could have a lot of smoke damage,” he said, noting thousands of pieces of furniture must be assessed.
The store was still open to customers when the fire started at 8:40 p.m., but no one was injured.
McIngvale was at the store when the blaze ignited. After an employee alerted him of a possible fire, McIngvale looked at surveillance cameras monitoring the property. “I saw 10-foot flames and realized how serious it was,” he said.
Flames towered over the warehouse’s storage area when fire crews arrived and started dousing it with elevated water cannons.
But the contents of the furniture storage warehouse only increased the flames. “It’s good fuel – it’s basically a big wood fire,” said Houston Fire Department District Chief Tommy Dowdy.
As 150 firefighters worked to contain the blaze, Mayor Bill White showed up to lend his support.
What caused the blaze was not immediately known. One employee said the fire may have started near a generator in the warehouse, but that report has not been officially confirmed, Dowdy said.
A man who identified himself as one of the store’s area managers, but declined to give his name, said fire alarms alerted everyone to get out.
“In like two minutes, the whole warehouse was full of smoke,” the manager said.
Customers and employeesleft “in an orderly fashion,” he said.
Five or six employees grabbed fire extinguishers in an attempt to douse the blaze when it started, “but then it came back up again. They couldn’t control it,” said Carolyn Phillips, Gallery Furniture’s director of human resources.
As firefighters came close to extinguishing the flames, McIngvale and about 100 employees gathered in a circle in the parking lot. Flanked by fire trucks and emergency workers, he led the group in a prayer and a rousing version of “God Bless America.”
“Dear Lord,” he prayed, “we hope you help us get through this night, and we thank you for nobody being hurt.”
The fire was put out at 11:06 p.m., but crews remained on site to assess the damage.
McIngvale is among Houston’s most successful entrepreneurs. He and his wife, Linda, opened the store at an empty model home park on a weedy lot in 1981, with just $5,000 in hand.
In the early days of Gallery Furniture, McIngvale and his wife slept there to guard their four sofas.
But the business experienced phenomenal growth. Recently, Gallery Furniture ranked 70th on a list of Houston-based private companies compiled by the Chronicle. The company earned $113 million in 2008 and has 329 employees on the payroll.
McIngvale opened a second Gallery Furniture store earlier this year at 2411 Post Oak Blvd., near the Galleria.
Through his high-energy advertising campaigns, McIngvale has turned his business into a cultural landmark and made himself a celebrity.
He is well-known for his community work, from contributing to hurricane relief efforts to initiating pep rallies for local sports teams. He and his wife own the Westside Tennis Club.
McIngvale tried to stay positive during the fire.
“We’ve got great people — we’ll make it through this,” said McIngvale, as he stood somberly outside the store with employees and friends. “We made it through Hurricane Ike. We’re still alive. We can come back and do this tomorrow.”
But McIngvale, who earned fame with his colorful commercials and self-imposed moniker of Mattress Mack, acknowledged “millions and millions” in dollars of merchandise had been damaged in his flagship store’s warehouse.
To his employees he promised, “We won’t quit.”
A few firefighters remained as dawn approached today, looking out for flare-ups. They planned to continue pouring water until heavy equipment could be brought in to pull away the remains of the hulking warehouse and expose any leftover hot spots.
Gallery Furniture — one of Houston’s brightest success stories, known as the store where Mattress Mack will “save you money” — faced serious damage as the four-alarm fire ripped through its warehouse in the 6000 block of the North Freeway near Parker.
But fire crews successfully kept the blaze from spreading to the store’s 100,000-square-foot showroom — the area visited by the public — during a two and a half hour battle. Morning commuters on the freeway slowed to look at the warehouse wreckage.
McIngvale said it was premature to speculate about the fate of the main store’s contents.
“Realistically, we could have a lot of smoke damage,” he said, noting thousands of pieces of furniture must be assessed.
The store was still open to customers when the fire started at 8:40 p.m., but no one was injured.
McIngvale was at the store when the blaze ignited. After an employee alerted him of a possible fire, McIngvale looked at surveillance cameras monitoring the property. “I saw 10-foot flames and realized how serious it was,” he said.
Flames towered over the warehouse’s storage area when fire crews arrived and started dousing it with elevated water cannons.
But the contents of the furniture storage warehouse only increased the flames. “It’s good fuel – it’s basically a big wood fire,” said Houston Fire Department District Chief Tommy Dowdy.
As 150 firefighters worked to contain the blaze, Mayor Bill White showed up to lend his support.
What caused the blaze was not immediately known. One employee said the fire may have started near a generator in the warehouse, but that report has not been officially confirmed, Dowdy said.
A man who identified himself as one of the store’s area managers, but declined to give his name, said fire alarms alerted everyone to get out.
“In like two minutes, the whole warehouse was full of smoke,” the manager said.
Customers and employeesleft “in an orderly fashion,” he said.
Five or six employees grabbed fire extinguishers in an attempt to douse the blaze when it started, “but then it came back up again. They couldn’t control it,” said Carolyn Phillips, Gallery Furniture’s director of human resources.
As firefighters came close to extinguishing the flames, McIngvale and about 100 employees gathered in a circle in the parking lot. Flanked by fire trucks and emergency workers, he led the group in a prayer and a rousing version of “God Bless America.”
“Dear Lord,” he prayed, “we hope you help us get through this night, and we thank you for nobody being hurt.”
The fire was put out at 11:06 p.m., but crews remained on site to assess the damage.
McIngvale is among Houston’s most successful entrepreneurs. He and his wife, Linda, opened the store at an empty model home park on a weedy lot in 1981, with just $5,000 in hand.
In the early days of Gallery Furniture, McIngvale and his wife slept there to guard their four sofas.
But the business experienced phenomenal growth. Recently, Gallery Furniture ranked 70th on a list of Houston-based private companies compiled by the Chronicle. The company earned $113 million in 2008 and has 329 employees on the payroll.
McIngvale opened a second Gallery Furniture store earlier this year at 2411 Post Oak Blvd., near the Galleria.
Through his high-energy advertising campaigns, McIngvale has turned his business into a cultural landmark and made himself a celebrity.
He is well-known for his community work, from contributing to hurricane relief efforts to initiating pep rallies for local sports teams. He and his wife own the Westside Tennis Club.
McIngvale tried to stay positive during the fire.
“We’ve got great people — we’ll make it through this,” said McIngvale, as he stood somberly outside the store with employees and friends. “We made it through Hurricane Ike. We’re still alive. We can come back and do this tomorrow.”
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