Jim McIngvale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jim McIngvale | |
| Born | February 11, 1951 Starkville, Mississippi |
|---|---|
| Residence | Houston, Texas |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | "Mattress Mac" |
| Occupation | Businessman, philanthropist |
| Known for | Gallery Furniture |
| Website www.GalleryFurniture.com |
|
Jim McIngvale (also known as Mattress Mack) (born February 11, 1951) is a businessman from Houston, the founder of the Houston furniture store Gallery Furniture.
Gallery Furniture, established in 1981, has been consistently ranked in Furniture Today’s Top 100 Furniture Retailers for some time and currently ranks as the Sales per Square Foot Leader for independent retailers in the United States.[1] The store has around $200 million in sales per year.[2]
Gallery Furniture engages in a number of charitable projects.[3] It aims to refurnish, redesign, and revitalize the over 130 USO Centers around the world, and has become a USO World Wide Strategic Parter Sponsor.[4] Annually, Gallery Furniture offers a Christmas Furniture Giveaway, where furniture is given away to those in need.[5]
McIngvale was born on February 11, 1951 in Starkville, Mississippi. He graduated from high school in Dallas.[3] He and his wife have three children. In 2002, McIngvale co-authored the book Always Think Big with Thomas Duening and John Ivancevich, which chronicles the ups and downs of McIngvale's entrepreneurial career.[6]
In 1987, a chained lion stationed at one of Mac's flea markets owned by 35-year old Gary Durkovitz mauled 8-year old Roxanne Hernandez.[7] The girl was severely injured, and the lion, shot, was later euthanized.[8] Mac was forced to perform community service as a punishment.[9]
Just before 8:45 CT May 21, 2009, the Gallery Furniture located on Interstate 45 North between Tidwell and Parker in Houston, caught fire. There are no reports of injuries. One hundred and fifty firefighters battled the four alarm blaze. The fire did not spread to the inside of the showroom. The warehouse was reported to be a total loss.[10] Currently, the cause of the fire is believed to be arson.[11]
On May 29, 2009, the Houston Chronicle reported that McIngvale refused to pay $48,000 dollars of taxes to the Greater Northside Management District that were assessed from 2005 to 2007; he paid taxes to the district in 2008. His northside facility is within the district's boundary. McIngvale said that the management district does not do enough to maintain the area; the business owner described the management district's taxation policies as "taxation without representation." The district sued McIngvale to try to force him to pay the taxes. McIngvale said that he is willing to dispute the charges in court.[12]
[edit] References
- ^ Engel, Clint (29 May 2008). "Gallery, Select Comfort Lead in Performance". FurnitureToday.com. http://furnituretoday.com/article/CA6339960.html?text=gallery+furniture. Retrieved on 14 June 2008.
- ^ Williams, Roy H. (November 28, 2005). "What Are You Offering?". The Monday Morning Memo. http://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/default.asp?ShowMe=ThisMemo&SearchCriteria=&MemoID=1591&UserEmail=.
- ^ a b Pilkenton, Jenn. "Houston's Mattress Mack Uses His Success to Help Others". Philanthropy World Magazine 12 (1). http://www.philanthropymagazine.com/Articles/12-1-McIngvale.htm. Retrieved on April 27, 2009.
- ^ "USO WorldWide Strategic Partners". USO. http://www.uso.org/whoweare/oursupporters/partnerssponsors/.
- ^ "Holiday Gift". Houston Chronicle. 20 December 2007. http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2007_4480154. Retrieved on 14 June 2008.
- ^ Duening, Thomas; Ivancevich, John; McIngvale, Jim (2002-03-19). Always Think Big. Kaplan Business. ISBN 0793153751.
- ^ Tutt, Bob. "1988 Year In Review/Some exotic pets, zoo animals caused catastrophe last year." Houston Chronicle. Monday January 2, 1989. A18. Retrieved on January 14, 2009.
- ^ Urban, Jerry. "McIngvale to start court-ordered work to stop child abuse." Houston Chronicle. Monday May 23, 1988. Section 1, Page 11. Retrieved on January 14, 2009.
- ^ Piller, Ruth."Probated sentences take new meaning." Houston Chronicle. Sunday July 24, 1988. Section 3, Page 1. Retrieved on January 14, 2009.
- ^ Desel, Jeremy; Zubowski, Courtney; Ponto, Michelle (May 28, 2009). "Investigators look for cause of 4-alarm fire at Gallery Furniture". 11 News (Houston, Texas). http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou090521_mp_gallery_warehouse_fire.3e87c43.html.
- ^ Glenn, Mike, Dane Schiller, and David Kaplan. "ATF says Gallery Furniture fire in north Houston was arson." Houston Chronicle. May 28, 2009. Retrieved on May 28, 2009.
- ^ Patel, Purva. "McIngvale sued over unpaid taxes." Houston Chronicle. May 29, 2009. Retrieved on May 30, 2009.
