7 mill isn't chump change, but Mattress Mack is going to be all right. He may not look the part but he's a sharp businessman and a good community guy. First, if you give away a $2,000 sofa that cost you $500, you didn't lose $2,000. Considering the markup on furniture the actual number is closer to 3.5M than 7.0M. Plus, the sales promotion made him some bucks, not everyone crossed the $6,000 threshold. And he got a lot of national publicity for free. I'm not saying he didn't lose any money, but I promise he'll be open next year, AND i believe he'll have another crazy promotion. The media will remember the $7 million dollar man and promote his Super Bowl Sale for free.
Agreed with everything you said. Technically he did indeed lose $7 million in revenue, which they indicate in the article is about 5% of total revenue for the entire year. So it's not chump change as you said, but the residual effect of this marketing ploy will more than make up for it.
He had some kind of serious health issue recently (maybe heart surgery?) as the news was interviewing him right after the surgery for some reason. I heard that he had a similar offer at the beginning of the year if you could pick the two Super Bowl teams (Broncos and Seahawks were picked most often) so he lost some money on that one also. I've also heard that one of his brothers is a big LSU fan and has a nice setup for every home game. Everyone says great things about Mattress Mack so I tend to believe them although I can't stand his commercials when he's yelling as loudly as possible.
Mack is doing well, very well. He gives money away like no one else in Tx. When you talk about a store( He has more than one) that takes in around $200M a year, no problem. Like I said, giving away is no problem. Oh, Mack was born in Starkvegas...FYI. Taking with people I know here, he donates to just about any worthy cause.
I just recalled a conversation that I had with a former co-worker when I first moved to Houston (2001). They said Mack had a reputation for being an extremely hard worker but also expected the same from his employees. Getting a call around 10pm to immediately go to the store for an urgent matter was not uncommon.
This kind of nonsense is ALWAYS insured. He paid a premium, but based on the line, I bet it was not outrageous, when compared to $7M.
