OUR HISTORY Home is Who We Are
FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS
At Lacks, we know home is more than just four walls. Home is where life happens, where we make a corner of the world our own, and where our best family memories are made. Our goal isn’t just to help you make a home—it’s to make the home you want. All across South Texas, the Lacks family dedicates itself to providing you with the best possible shopping experience through top tier service, consistent quality you can trust, and unquestionable value at every one of our showrooms. While furniture is the center of our business, our focus is enriching the foundation of our local communities. We would never have come as far as we have without encouraging social responsibility and fostering strong relationships with those around us. Home is the place for family. Texas has been Lacks Furniture’s home for almost a century and our family will never stop working to make it better for everyone.
A STORE DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE COMMUNITY
Lacks Furniture has earned numerous local and national awards and recognitions:
- Awarded "Sustained Excellence Award" by Furniture Today 40 Years of making the Top 100 Furniture Retailers list, May 2021.
- #4 under Large Independents category in the Annual Power 50 Retailers in Home Furnishings Business publication in 2017 and 2018.
The Monitor's Reader's Choice Award - voted Best Furniture Store consecutively from 2003-2021 (except for one 1 year, 2007). - The Monitor's Reader's Choice Award - voted Favorite Appliance Store in 2020.
The Laredo Morning Time's Reader's Choice Award - voted Best Furniture Store from 2017‑2022. - The Laredo Morning Times' Reader's Choice Award - voted Best Mattress Store in 2022.
Lacks — Since 1935
In 1914, at the young age of 13, a boy named Sam Lack boarded the "Lusitania" and began a lone voyage from Russia to the United States where he would join his father. Some years later, Sam would find the very first Lacks store in McAllen, Texas. 1935 marked the beginning of what would one day become the most preeminent furniture chain in South Texas.
Sparking A Lasting Legacy
America’s love affair with automobiles during the 1930s and their growing accessibility convinced Sam Lack to create a specialty business selling auto parts in a modest building at the corner of Main and Beaumont in downtown McAllen. Under his watchful eye and with tireless support from his family, his business flourished. Only three years after opening, Mr. Lack built his second store in Mission, which was quickly followed by new locations in Edinburg and Weslaco.
The war years of the 1940s were hard on the U.S. economy. Auto parts were among the rationed goods alongside food and gasoline. Determined to succeed, Lack expanded the stores’ product line by offering household appliances. As he added new products and opened stores across the Valley, Lack’s business transformed from a small auto parts chain into a full-scale furniture and appliance operation.
Beyond working hard for the success of his business, Sam Lack was deeply devoted to serving the community. He actively served with the McAllen United Fund, McAllen Civic Center Board, Drainage Advisory Board, McAllen Chamber of Commerce, and McAllen Rotary Club. This dedication to others’ welfare would become its own founding principle of the business, turning into an intrinsic part of the Lacks brand for generations to come.
Lacks Associated Valley Stores is Born
In 1949, Sam’s son-in-law, Myles Aaronson, began helping him run the family business. Myles later purchased the Weslaco store from Sam and began his own expansion program, called Lacks Associated Valley Stores, Inc. Aaronson purchased the Weslaco store from Sam Lack and his son Stanley in 1955, and the company changed its name to Lacks Valley Stores, Ltd in 1995, keeping the trade’s Lack family name.
Two years later, Sylvia and Myles' son, Lee Aaronson, became the company's chief executive officer. The stores remain a family-owned business, maintained under the guidance of Lee Aaronson, Carolyn Aaronson, and Vicki Hutson.
Success in a Modern World
Today, Lacks Valley Stores, Ltd. — also known simply as “Lacks” — has ten stores and a clearance center in South Texas, running from Laredo to Brownsville. The Lacks Galleria in McAllen is the largest furniture store in South Texas with a staggering 140,000 square feet providing an unparalleled assortment of furniture, appliances, electronics, mattresses, and decorative accessories. The company’s newest store opened in Corpus Christi in 2018.
Sam Lack’s commitment to the community is a value that continues to be the core of the Lacks family. Currently, Lacks donates to organizations that strive to build a better future for others, including the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Cancer Society, among many others.
Lacks ranks among the top 100 retail furniture operations in the U.S. according to Furniture Today, the furniture industry’s leading periodical.
The company celebrates its 87th anniversary this year.