F/T names retail bedding giants
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, April 20, 2008
High Point — Two furniture stores, a bedding specialty retailer and a factory-direct operator have been named Retail Giants of Bedding by Furniture/Today and will be honored at the newspaper's Bedding Conference next month.
The honorees are R.C. Willey of Salt Lake City, part of the Berkshire Hathaway furniture division; Ashley Furniture HomeStores, Arcadia, Wis.; Sleep America, a bedding specialist based in Phoenix; and Verlo Mattress Factory Stores of Fort Atkinson, Wis.
Tributes to each retailer will be presented at a gala awards dinner on May 15 that will be a highlight of Furniture/Today's third annual Bedding Conference. The conference is set for May 14-16 at the Ritz-Carlton golf resort in Naples, Fla.
"Each of these four retailers has found a path to success in the highly competitive mattress industry," said David Perry, Furniture/Today's bedding editor, who will present the awards. "They offer a number of lessons that all retailers can profitably emulate, especially in the challenging retail climate that now confronts the industry. While our honorees have found success with different strategies, they share a commitment to excellence and a passion for the business."
Two of the honorees represent Top 10 bedding operations. The Berkshire Hathaway furniture division ranks in the No. 9 position on Furniture/Today's list of the Top 25 Bedding Retailers. And the Ashley Furniture HomeStores network now stands in the No. 10 position.
Sleep America, run by Len and Debbie Gaby, has achieved success with a female-friendly approach to consumers. Verlo Mattress Factory Stores has carved out a niche in smaller and midsized markets.
"This year's awards present a number of firsts," Perry noted. "Verlo Mattress Factory Stores is the first factory-direct business that we have honored. And this is the first year in which we have honored more than one furniture retailer. Both R.C. Willey and the Ashley Furniture HomeStores are well deserving of their recognition this year. And in honoring Sleep America, we salute, for the first time, a mattress retailer in which a woman is the face of the business."
The Bedding Conference features a retail-oriented agenda and includes a full day of educational sessions on May 15, followed by a half-day program on May 16. The conference begins with a golf outing and a reception on May 14.
To register for the conference, go to www.furnituretoday.com and click on the conferences icon, or contact Meg Goldsby, special events manager, at (336) 605-1066 or by e-mail at meg.goldsby@reedbusiness.com.
