UPDATE: Wickline bedding ceases operations

Mattress producer files for Chapter 7 liquidation

Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, September 29, 2009

SAN DIEGO — Wickline Bedding, a 50-year-old independent mattress producer, has ceased operations and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.

The company, which is based in Escondido, Calif., listed assets of $3.1 million and liabilities of $49.7 million in documents filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court here.

However, a spokesman for Wickline said at least one liability reported in the documents, a $45.5 million claim from raw materials supplier Crystal Bedding, is incorrect. The company actually is owed about $45,000, which would substantially reduce Wickline's total liabilities.

Other mattress industry suppliers listed as unsecured creditors include Abad Foam, owed $648,769; Enriquez Mattress and Quilting, owed $228,141; North American Foam, owed $162,410; and Leggett & Platt, owed $102,543.

Three mattress ticking producers - Bekaert, Blumenthal and Culp - also are listed, with Bekaert owed $16,194, Blumenthal owed $16,476 and Culp owed $6,768.

Wickline was founded in 1949 and was purchased by former Simmons executive Ray Malkiewicz in 1979. His son, Mike, is now president. Ray's other sons, Jim and Mark Malkiewicz, and son-in-law Tony Colantono, also are executives with the company.

Mike Malkiewicz said he and other family members hope to remain in the bedding business.

"Ideally, a suitor would come along, purchase the assets and fire the factory back up," he said. "After all, 30 years of relationships have certainly built some value."

At its peak, the company had annual sales of about $16 million, Malkiewicz said.