Gallery Furniture takes football promotion to NFL

Consumers who choose game winner get discount

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, January 20, 2010

HOUSTON — The response to a recent football promotion is prompting Gallery Furniture here to make the same offer - this time to customers who pick the correct National Football Conference championship team.

Customers who buy $5,000 or more in home furnishings or electronics starting Jan. 19 and have it delivered by 5 p.m. Jan. 24 (game day) will have a chance to pick the winner of this week's NFC championship between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints. If they choose correctly, they'll get 50% of the purchase price back in the form of a refund check.

Gallery hosted a similar contest linked to the college championship winner earlier this month, and wound up paying out more than $540,000 to the customers who chose the University of Alabama over the University of Texas. There were 103 winners, including one no-purchase-necessary winner required by the state.

Had Texas won, McIngvale said the payout would have been less that $200,000 -partly because Alabama was favored. But he also heard from Texas fans who picked Alabama figuring the furniture discount would be their consolation prize if their favorite team lost.

"We had a great response to our last contest with Texas and Alabama and due to numerous requests, we are doing it again," McIngvale said. "As one customer put it, ‘I get beautiful furniture in my home and may get half of my purchase price back. This is a win-win situation!'"

Gallery did not insure the college promotion nor the new one. McIngvale has noted that with a 50% off promotion like this he's not giving merchandise away. Also, the event helped create a frenzied buying atmosphere that led to non-qualifying sales below $5,000, too.

Asked if a Super Bowl promotion was in the works, McIngvale said, "Who knows?"

"I wake up each morning with a new idea. I can't control myself. My wife wishes I could, but I can't."

McIngvale said he made more customers for life with the last event than ever before.

"As long as we're relevant, that's all that matters," he said. "When they don't talk about you, then you've got problems."