F/T honors bedding retailers
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, May 7, 2007
Grapevine, Texas — Three bedding specialty chains and a Top 100 furniture store were honored here by Furniture/Today as Retail Giants of Bedding. The four were saluted at the newspaper's second annual Bedding Conference, a sold-out event held at the Gaylord Texan resort here.
The award winners were nominated by their industry peers and selected by Furniture/Today and its conference co-sponsor, the Home Furnishings International Assn.
Honored were:
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Mattress Firm, based in Houston, which ranks No. 3 on Furniture/Today's Top 25 Bedding Retailers list. The company is headed by Gary Fazio, CEO, and Steve Stagner, president.
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Mattress Giant, based in Addison, Texas, No. 6 on the Top 25. Barrie Brown is CEO and president.
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1800mattress.com, based in Long Island City, N.Y., which is No. 15 and is headed by Napoleon Barragan, founder and CEO.
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American Furniture Warehouse, based in Englewood, Colo., which is in the No. 28 position on Furniture/Today's Top 100 Furniture Stores list. Jake Jabs is CEO.
All were honored at a gala awards dinner at the Bedding Conference.
In his acceptance remarks, Barragan thanked "the many companies represented in this room" for their contributions to a foundation that sends surgeons to Barragan's native Ecuador to provide treatment for children. Those contributions were made in honor of Barragan's son, Luis, who died last year.
"Luis helped move our company to new heights and he is sorely missed by all of us," Barragan added.
The awards dinner was sponsored by Comfort Solutions. Dave Roberts, president of Comfort Solutions, said the honorees offer lessons in leadership.
"Each of these four retailers is giant in size.... But it is not size alone that we honor tonight," he said in a video tribute to the retailers. "We also honor the commitment to excellence that drives each of these four retailers. These companies are good, but they constantly strive to become even better at what they do and how they do it."
Mary Frye, HFIA president, said, "HFIA members and our leadership team join me in congratulating the companies being recognized as Retail Giants. The fact that two of the four are Texas firms is just an added bonus, since we are honoring them in Texas."
Frye noted that the four winners "are great promoters, and because of the positive focus they place on purchasing bedding, they help other bedding retailers do more business as well. The importance of customer care and selling the benefits of a good night's sleep are also messages that these companies deliver well. Retail Giants come in all sizes, and these four companies happen to all be giants in their commitment to bedding."
