George Bruni named Art Van Furniture's buyer of year

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, October 18, 2012

George Bruni, third from left, is Art Van Furniture’s Buyer of the Year. With him are the retailer’s Bob Price, left, David Van Elslander and Kim Yost.

WARREN, Mich. — Bedding buyer George Bruni, affectionately known as "Mattress George," was named Art Van Furniture's fiscal 2012 Buyer of the Year.

Bruni, who has been with the Top 100 company for 23 years as the senior buyer for mattresses, is responsible for purchasing 10 brands of bedding for 70 mattress stores including Art Van PureSleep and Mattress World. He leads a four-member team. The Warren, Mich.-based Top 100 company said it sells one out of two mattresses in Michigan.

"Mattresses had the largest percentage of sales growth year to year and drove the largest amount of traffic into our stores," Art Van CEO Kim Yost said in a statement. "It was a record-breaking year for mattress sales at Art Van, and Bruni led our team for our sales growth."

Bruni was selected for the honor based on his sales results, profit contribution and "exceptional degree of teamwork exhibited during 2012," said Senior Vice President of Merchandising Bob Price.

"Our mattress business is critical to our success," said David Van Elslander, vice president of Art Van PureSleep. "Bruni's expertise in merchandising our Art Van PureSleep business and our Mattress World business is unparalleled."