Who is Mattress Mack?

[Coach Andy Mac]

James Franklin McIngvale was born in Starkville, Mississippi, in 1951. Sports was in his blood from the start, as his dad, George, was a star football player at Mississippi State University. McIngvale's family moved to Dallas when he was a boy and he eventually went on to the University of Texas and then the University of North Texas, where he played football for both universities in the late 1960s and early 1970s. After dropping out before finishing his degree, McIngvale claims to have gotten his big break when he was fired from a job at a convenience store. While this would be discouraging to most, that termination allowed McIngvale to take work at a Dallas furniture store, where he learned the ins and outs of the industry.

Inspired to open his own shop, he moved to Houston with his wife, Linda, and opened the first Gallery Furniture in 1981. After appearing in several Gallery Furniture TV commercials while dressed in a flimsy-looking mattress costume, McIngvale earned the nickname "Mattress Mack." Today, McIngvale's empire includes three Gallery Furniture locations in the Houston area, including a massive 165,000-square-foot store in Fort Bend County that houses a 30,000-gallon saltwater aquarium, tropical birds, exotic animals and a giant jumping mattress.

read more:  https://www.chron.com/culture/article/mattress-mack-17740613.php