Gallery opens largest showroom in Fort Bend
The 165,000-square-foot Gallery Furniture at 7227 West Grand Parkway South opened July 1 and features more than furniture. The 4½-story Living Green Wall is 48 feet high, 42 feet long and features 12,000 plants. The 20,000-squarefoot atrium features monkeys and birds. Zebra sharks are among the occupants of a 30,000-gallon saltwater aquarium. Jim McIngvale and his wife, Linda, have donated a section of the store to residents of the Brookwood Community, a nonprofit residential facility and vocational program for adults with disabilities. Another feature is Brick & Motor Kitchen, a fullservice restaurant at the showroom, which is the largest of the store’s three sites. Visit https://www. galleryfurniture.com for details.
Gallery Furniture’s newest, largest showroom just opened in Fort Bend County. The 165,000-square-foot store is a sprawling series of furniture groupings and room displays; one Fitbitwearing employee told us it takes 2,100 steps to make a full loop around the store.
As always, though, shopping at Gallery is not just about the furniture. Amid scads of sofas and sectionals, you’ll find a few surprises:
A 20,000-square-foot atrium is anchored by an enormous above-ground koi pond adorned with lily pads and blooming orchids. The ceiling may be glass, but don’t worry: The atrium is air-conditioned.
A big, green living wall dominates one end of the atrium. Designed by GSky director of horticultural design Deborah Kotalic, the wall contains 12,000 plants.
Just like the original location, this Gallery showroom has monkeys. The three tufted capuchins, who live in an atrium enclosure, are named Katie, Houston and Sugar. In cages throughout the atrium, you’ll see birds, too — a toucan, a macaw, a cockatoo and a couple of caiques.
A 30,000-gallon saltwater aquarium fills one showroom wall. We spotted blue tangs, puffer fish and stingrays. They were joined by a zebra shark Wednesday morning, and a couple of blacktip sharks will arrive shortly.
If you get hungry while shopping, stop by the Brick & Mortar Kitchen. This is no snack bar — it’s a full-service restaurant (most entrees are $15-$20), bar and bakeshop operated by Gallery owner Jim McIngvale’s daughter, Laura McIngvale-Brown, and her husband, Phillip Brown. Brick & Mortar has its own entrance, or you can enter through the showroom that features rugs and lamps.
The new Gallery Furniture showroom is at 7227 W. Grand Parkway South in Richmond. For more information go to galleryfurniture.com.