1800mattress.com franchisee to bid for mattress retailer

Bob Klein would put emphasis on Internet, telephone sales

Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, May 5, 2009

NEW YORK — The CEO of the lone franchisee of 1800mattress.com said this week he plans to submit a bid for the bankrupt retailer and empasize its successful telephone and Internet sales platform.

Bob Klein, who heads franchisees Consolidated Mattress and Amalgamated Mattress, wouldn't discuss the financial aspects of his bid, but said he would focus on 1800mattress.com's core business of the Internet and telephone sales, although he would keep the retailer's current brick-and-mortar stores open.

"We think that was a terrific business model," he said. "But the retail stores cannibalized sales from the call center ... and that's what led to their downfall."

Klein, whose company is based in the Boston area and has the franchise rights for parts of the Northeast, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Florida, said his company is built on offering service, convenience and value. He pledged to maintain that foundation if he is the successful bidder.

"We will work very hard to rebuild the brand, and bring the focus back to the core business," he said.

Klein said he has been contacted by several parties interested in making a joint bid, and said he wouldn't rule out one with Ken Mazda, a mattress industry veteran who had a tentative agreement to buy 1800mattress.com shortly before the bankruptcy filing.

Klein's company will be bidding against Sleepy's, the retail powerhouse who has been designated as the so-called stalking horse bidder and has a tentative agreement to buy the company for $2.1 million.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Brooklyn recently pushed back the deadline for submitting bids to May 21. An auction, if necessary, will be held May 26, and a hearing to approve the sale is scheduled for May 28.

1800mattress.com filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late March, shortly after three creditors sought to force the company into Chapter 7 liquidation.

Sealy, owed $1.19 million, is the largest unsecured creditor.