Mattress Firm Leads Specialists' Comeback
David Perry -- Furniture Today, June 8, 2011
David Perry Executive editor
Led by Houston-based Mattress Firm, the largest bedding specialty retailers recorded a strong comeback performance last year. Bedding is back as a star performer at retail.
Our recent report on the Top 100 U.S. Furniture Stores, one of the most closely studied reports published by Furniture/Today, included eight bedding specialists among its members. And six of those eight saw their sales shoot up last year.
It was a remarkable turnaround story from last year, when the nine bedding specialists on the Top 100 list collectively saw their sales drop 9.5%, while their store count decreased by 61 units. This year's math: Bedding specialists posted an 8.9% sales increase and added 76 units.
The big difference maker was Mattress Firm, which recorded a performance for the ages last year, adding a spectacular 117 stores and boosting sales by almost $100 million, to $597.3 million.
Hicksville, N.Y.-based Sleepy's retains its position as the industry's largest bedding specialty retailer, boosting sales to $765 million last year. But Sleepy's actually ended the year with two fewer units than it had the year before.
If Mattress Firm has another year like last year, it will be pushing Sleepy's for the No. 1 spot on the list of bedding specialty retailers.
Led by dynamic CEO Steve Stagner, Mattress Firm has a deep and talented management team, constantly strives to improve, and runs a highly professional operation. This is one of the industry's most impressive success stories.
But other bedding specialists did well last year, too. Sleepy's boosted its sales by 9.3%, while airbed retailer Select Comfort recorded a 14.2% sales gain, despite a reduction of 17 in its store count.
The Sleep Train held its store count steady last year at 231 but increased sales by 5.3%. A similar performance was turned in by the America's Mattress network of stores featuring the Serta brand. That network maintained its store count at 385 and boosted sales by 5.2%.
Los Angeles-based Sit n' Sleep added two units last year, to 24, and increased sales by 3.7%.
The only major bedding sleep specialists that saw sales go south last year were Mattress Giant, down 10.9%, and Bedding Experts, down 12.9%.
Overall, the bedding specialists soared last year, and none more so than Mattress Firm. It's good to see bedding's big stars shining brightly on the national retail landscape.
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Bedding specialty stores stars of Top 100
May 27, 2009
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