Furniture/Today honors four Retail Giants of Bedding
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, June 1, 2008
Naples, Fla. — Furniture/Today honored four leading bedding retailers at its third annual Bedding Conference here.
The honorees included two furniture stores, a bedding specialty retailer and a factory-direct operator, the first retailer in that channel of distribution to receive one of Furniture/Today's Retail Giants of Bedding awards.
The four honorees were R.C. Willey of Salt Lake City, Utah, part of the Berkshire Hathaway furniture division; the Ashley Furniture HomeStores, Arcadia, Wis.; Sleep America, a bedding specialist based in Phoenix; and Verlo Mattress Factory Stores, a factory-direct company based in Fort Atkinson, Wis.
Tributes to each of those retailers were presented at a gala awards dinner that was a highlight of the conference, held last month at the Ritz-Carlton golf resort here.
"Each of these four retailers has found a path to success in the highly competitive mattress industry," Furniture/Today said in announcing the winners. "They offer a number of lessons that all retailers can profitably emulate, especially in the challenging retail climate that now confronts the industry."
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, continuing to climb the top retailers' list, 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. And the Verlo Mattress Factory Stores operation has carved out a niche in smaller and mid-sized markets.
Accepting the award for the Ashley Furniture HomeStores operation was Ashley chairman Ron Wanek, who used his acceptance speech to say that he didn't understand the bedding industry's long warranties. Dave Young, CEO of VyMaC Corp., parent of the Verlo stores, accepted the award for Verlo. He was accompanied to the stage by Keith Mackey, vice president.
Jeff Child, president of R.C. Willey, accepted the award for his company. Bedding buyer Brett Hiatt joined him on the stage. And both Len and Debbie Gaby accepted the award for Sleep America.
The awards dinner was sponsored by Comfort Solutions by King Koil. Dave Roberts, president of Comfort Solutions, offered a tribute to the winners in a video introduction. "We are honoring retailers who have a proven track record of success," Roberts said. "These retailers have pursued their own different paths to success in retail bedding, but they share a commitment to excellence that can inspire all bedding retailers."
