Is bedding company in the future for FBI?
By David Perry, Executive editor -- Furniture Today, February 3, 2002
A major bedding brand could get a new owner. The initials of the new owner could be FBI. It's all strictly speculation at this point, but it is, we must admit, tantalizing speculation.
And it's not just wild speculation, which can be fun but is something that we try not to indulge in in this space.
No, this intriguing notion comes straight from the top man at Furniture Brands International, Mickey Holliman. When the CEO of FBI chatted with analysts and reporters (including our Larry Thomas) the other day, he was asked if FBI might consider buying a mattress company.
He didn't deny it. In fact, he said it could be a possibility.
His actual answer: "A brand that is compatible with the brands in this company, under the proper set of acquisition circumstances, could be appealing."
He also noted there are "four great brands in the marketplace" and observed there are about 185 dedicated Thomasville and Drexel Heritage stores.
Of course, the "four great brands" is a reference to Sealy, Serta, Simmons and Spring Air, the four largest bedding producers, sometimes referred to as "the Big Four."
Each of those producers markets a broad enough mattress line to be compatible with the brands in the FBI stable, which now include Henredon, Broyhill and Lane in addition to Thomasville and Drexel Heritage.
Frankly, we don't know if any major bedding producers are even for sale, but the idea of a bedding company joining the furniture fold is not new. We've heard talk over the years that a big furniture company might want to add bedding to its stable. Many years ago Bassett did buy a bedding maker, but it later sold that business. Sealy now owns the Bassett bedding brand.
The idea of a furniture company owning a bedding company continues to make some sense, especially as furniture manufacturers see more of their sales being generated by their own retail networks.
Why shouldn't a company that supplies four-poster beds to its dealers also supply the mattresses that fit inside them? That would certainly make things easier for the retailer. And the trend toward consolidation in the furniture industry is only growing stronger.
But in recent years that trend has not led a furniture major to buy a bedding major. Maybe that's because making beds is quite different from making furniture, and the furniture guys aren't comfortable expanding into a category they don't understand.
Or it may be the furniture guys don't think it would be a major advantage to buy a bedding maker, when so many bedding producers are available to serve them. We can't think of a bedding major who wouldn't jump at the chance to add a major customer.
On the other hand, I know of a bedding bargain or two out there, and Mickey Holliman is a shrewd buyer.
Stay tuned.
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