Jim McIngvale, more widely known as Mattress Mack, told radio host Michael Berry this morning on KTRH that Gallery Furniture’s 30,000-sq.-ft. store at 2411 Post Oak Blvd., shown above, will close following the end of its lease in a year. “The traffic went down by half because they tore up the road,” said Mack, referring to the construction on the new Uptown BRT that now has the street peppered with blaze orange cones and barricades. Gallery Furniture opened the Uptown location in 2009 inside what used to be a Pier One at the Post Oak Shopping Center. The closure will bring the chain down to 2 branches: the one in Richmond off the Grand Pkwy. and its original spot on I-45.
- January 17, 2019 [The Michael Berry Show]
Photo: Isiah Carey
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Yes, the traffic got worse with the construction, but I have a hard time believing this is the primary driver for a 50% reduction on their end. It’s the only Gallery in the area, so if people want to go, they will go regardless of road construction. They also have/had the benefit of being in a corner retail center that has far easier access than others in the heart of Post Oak, and those are still open.
Regardless of the BRT construction, that area stays packed. I never understand how transit improvements are criticized but road construction can take years and be well over budget and nobody bats an eye. I wish the best to Mcingvale and his family but I doubt the BRT hurt it that bad.
So if he waited for the construction to end, would the traffic not return back to normal?
The BRT line should have never been built in the first place. They should have just repaired the road and left it alone.
This suburban style retail lot with Gallery hasn’t reached its full potential. I see a high-rise located there in the not so distant future.
Post oak looks great with the new trees and I am excited for the finished product.
Honestly I am surprised this center has not made announcements for a re-development. Alor of space to be dedicated to strictly parking. Hopefully GF closing the store will speed up those plans.
Also I think GF would be better served with a smaller store inside the loop. Or something like a destination store similar to restoration hardware. So many options for furniture nowadays and a lot of it online. Personally I think GF furniture is pretty bland and overpriced.
There are more reasons for this closure but the road construction is the scape goat.
The timing couldn’t have been worse for Jim. The lease is up next year and I guarantee you the landlord is jacking the cost up big time post construction. Combine losses from construction with higher costs for a new lease and it might not make sense to continue there. I’d like to add that they opened their doors to flood victims in emergency fashion. Right there in the store. They’ve been a great supporter for all kinds of Houston causes and I hope things work out.
I never quite got why Gallery was on Post Oak – Seems their market is the suburbs.
Uptown is a pricey district for anything other than high end furniture stores with smaller footprints.
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I can’t imagine they have the margins to support a 50% drop in foot traffic and the majority of that remaining foot traffic would’ve probably still made the trek to I45 so can’t blame them. Why pay overpriced rent when you’re not getting a return on that premium.
Surprising that the construction afftected this store as I’m constantly in this shopping center fighting for parking spots.
I’m interpreting this as that location isn’t as profitable as expected (regardless of traffic). I’m sure the rent is sky high which impacts the bottom line. Do you think when the North Freeway reconstruction begins, he’ll close the original location. No way.
I know everybody just adores this guy but he’s had it out for the Uptown BRT (initially LRT) line since the very beginning. The closure is nothing more than the action of a spiteful man child further trying to falsely paint to the ignorant masses that mass transit is the bad guy. Besides, I never felt a dumpy furniture store like Gallery belonged on Houston’s premier corridor. Good riddance!
Suuuuuuuure. Pesky road work kept people from wanting to buy overpriced, mediocre furniture. Should have just blamed Obama and the liberal media instead.
The PO changes are turning out to be awful. My guess is MM has a spidey-sense of what is coming. First, the lights are out of sequence going up PO: the new light are Fairdale /Transco is activated by any car hitting the sensor, so when 30 cars turn left from Richmond that traffic flow comes to a screeching halt. Other lights are way too long. The traffic is not flowing. Secondly, the geniuses decided to put trees in the BRT median. The median is a few feet wide, these Post Oaks will break the concrete in a few years and so this is an incredibly poor decision. But the coup de gras is the any Metro bus going down the BRT line with be actually beat to death a wall of branches. The only respite to this is to give the trees a shave on one side. Use to be a pretty nice little avenue and now it has all the eye-appeal of a long taxi at IAH.
Ask any of the businesses along Post Oak and they all will tell you that the construction has significantly impacted their business (both along Post Oak and 610). There is also no end in sight given the redo of 59 and 620. Mattress Mac is cutting his losses.
Jacob is 100% on the nose.
If his sales are down 50%, perhaps the urgency to replace Harvey damaged furniture a year ago has something to do with it, not just road construction.
We can’t forget that Mac was a huge supporter of Culbertson, who’s main leadership mission was to prevent transit expansions. For them, anything which helps the mobility of lower-income individuals and may steer the middle class away from car dependency was the enemy. Maybe he should just stay with his normal clientele in McMansionville.
I have no major problem getting to the Container Store, Whole Earth, Neiman Marcus Last Call. The Gallery store is dull as dirt — and I still need more furniture (after loosing mine during floods from Buffalo Bayou after Harvey). For furniture… Headed to Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams and Pottery Barn (both in the busy hard to get into area of Highland Village)