In the summer of 2020, while much of the country grappled with pandemic closures, Houston’s Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale quietly made a bet on a different kind of recovery. The furniture magnate, already a local icon for his over-the-top commercials and philanthropic gambles, cleared out 15,000 square feet of showroom space at his Gallery Furniture North Freeway store. It wasn’t to display another line of recliners or dining tables—it was
