Smalling to head Simmons specialty unit
CEO of Comfor-Pedic
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, July 22, 2007
Atlanta — As Simmons seeks to gain market share in the growing specialty sleep arena, it is turning to a specialty sleep veteran who is known as a passionate advocate for the category.
Scott Smalling, CEO of Comfor-Pedic, will soon be expanding his horizons in specialty sleep, one of the bright stars in the bedding industry. He will take on a big new responsibility when he heads the specialty products division that Simmons is establishing to give that company a growth platform in specialty sleep.
The key to Simmons' specialty sleep push is the recently announced acquisition of the West Coast-based Comfor-Pedic lineup of memory foam mattresses and pillows. Simmons has signed a purchase agreement to acquire the Comfor-Pedic line from Comfor Products, and the deal is expected to close in a few weeks.
Top Comfor-Pedic officials, led by Smalling, will head the new Simmons specialty products division.
It will be a new challenge for a team that has positioned Comfor-Pedic as a specialty sleep innovator and has raised the company’s profile with savvy merchandising and marketing moves, including a partnership with ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” That partnership has given Comfor-Pedic’s products exposure to a national television audience.
Smalling is a member of the third-generation involved in his family’s foam business, established as Industrial Rubber & Supply in 1946 and renamed Comfor Products in 2006.
He led the company’s push to develop new products and built the management team that will join him at Simmons. He will become president of the specialty products division.
Other key members of the division will be:
u Jack Squires, president of Comfor-Pedic, who will become executive vice president of the Simmons division.
u Butch Webster, executive vice president of Comfor-Pedic, who will become vice president of specialty products and business development.
u Al Bromberg, vice president/East region of Comfor-Pedic, who will become director of specialty products, East region.
u Jim Lambert, vice president/Central region of Comfor-Pedic, who will become director of specialty products, Central region.
u Rick Vander Woude, vice president/West region of Comfor-Pedic, who will become director of specialty products, West region. Bromberg, Lambert and Vander Woude all previously worked for visco leader Tempur-Pedic.
u Anne Kozel, currently brand director for the Simmons Natural Care line, will also be brand director for Comfor-Pedic.
Smalling described the specialty division execs as “a dream team,” and said the addition of Simmons’ resources will give the team a powerful presence in the specialty sleep category.
Charlie Eitel, CEO and chairman of Simmons, said the Comfor-Pedic team is passionate about its products. He called them “foam freaks” and said they can teach Simmons a great deal about the specialty sleep category.
Simmons said that training, branding and sales operations positions will also be added to the new specialty products division.
The Comfor-Pedic team will continue to be based at the company’s headquarters in Seattle.
Simmons will rebrand the Comfor-Pedic line as ComforPedic by Simmons. It will show the new line in the Simmons showroom at the Las Vegas Market, which opens July 30.
Smalling and his team will manage Simmons’ specialty sleep portfolio, currently anchored by its Natural Care line of latex mattresses. Simmons also is still offering its Caress line of memory foam mattresses.
The new specialty sleep division will report to Steve Fendrich, executive vice president of sales at Simmons.
While production of Comfor-Pedic’s products will continue at that company’s facilities, Simmons officials say that they expect manufacturing and distribution of the Comfor-Pedic line to migrate to existing Simmons facilities by the end of this year.
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Simmons putting new focus on specialty sleep
Aug 1, 2007
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