Houston retailer offers buyers $7,000 bet on WTI price

January 13, 2015

Houston retailer offers buyers $7,000 bet on WTI price

ROGER JORDAN, Associate Editor

HOUSTON -- A Houston retailer is offering customers the chance to walk away with $7,000 worth of furniture for free if the price of oil bounces back.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) -- the U.S. benchmark crude -- has lost more than half of its value in recent months and is currently trading at around $45/bbl. WTI closed at $46.07 on Jan. 12

In response to the downdraft in prices, Gallery Furniture has launched a promotion offering customers who buy “$7,000 or more of furniture or mattresses” the opportunity to get all of their money back if WTI tops $85/bbl at the end of the year.

“Everyone knows how important oil is to the Houston area economy,” an ad on the company’s website says. “Everyone from construction to retail depends on how well the energy industry prospers. The better energy does, the better we all benefit.”

Goldman Sachs has reduced its six and 12-month WTI predictions to $39/bbl and $65/bbl, from $75 and $80, respectively.

Gallery Furniture, which was founded by Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, describes the promotion as a “very limited time offer.”