Furniture First focusing on mattress sales events
Jonathan Gaspari works on promotions for category
David Perry -- Furniture Today, May 18, 2010
 Jonathan Gaspari |
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Bedding veteran Jonathan Gaspari, the new director of mattresses at buying group Furniture First, is focusing on events designed to drive sales for large and small retailers alike.
"Over the last few months I've been working on rolling out large scale promotions that work with both our largest and smallest members," said Gaspari, who spent 10 years at Sealy earlier in his career.
"Setting up turnkey events for major mattress holidays that ‘drive the door to sell the floor' is one area that I will constantly be focusing on. Discovering new and effective promotions that maximize advertising dollars will greatly contribute to the success of our members in the mattress category," he said.
Gaspari joined Furniture First earlier this year, succeeding Bob Muenkel, a respected bedding veteran who took a position with Serta.
Gaspari said his new job will give him a valuable learning opportunity.
He started his mattress career at Sealy in 1999, beginning as a sales representative. In 2007 he became national account training manager at the corporate office at Sealy, developing training programs for Sealy's top 20 accounts. He worked with Sealy's marketing and sales teams and executed programs for the Sealy Posturepedic and Stearns & Foster brands.
Two years later he joined Carolina Mattress Guild, a Thomasville, N.C.-based regional bedding producer. "That position exposed me to the commodity end of the mattress business, which in turn will give me a boost in further developing the Mattress First line," he said.
Gaspari knows that he's got to find ways to help Furniture First members hold their own in what has been a challenging sales climate. "As times are tough," he said, "we have to continue to discover new and innovative ways to capture what business is out there. At the same time, it is imperative that we make the most out of every customer who walks through the doors."
Furniture First has more than 170 members who collectively generate more than $1.35 billion in sales.
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Gaspari promotes mattresses at Furniture First
May 24, 2010
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