Spring Air to close 2 plants, move HQ to Tampa
Other factories will supply Phoenix, St. Louis areas
David Perry -- Furniture Today, April 23, 2008
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. — Bedding major Spring Air announced today that it is closing its manufacturing plants in Phoenix and St. Louis and will relocate its corporate headquarters from this Chicago suburb to Tampa, Fla.
CEO Bob Hellyer said the changes are “tough, but necessary,” given the challenging business climate that faces the bedding industry. The closings won’t affect Spring Air’s ability to service its customers, he said.
The corporate headquarters, located here for the past several years, will move to Spring Air’s manufacturing and shared services center in Tampa.
As a result of the moves, Spring Air said it will cut 122 positions.
The St. Louis manufacturing will be transferred to Spring Air’s Columbus, Ohio, plant. Spring Air’s Los Angeles facility will absorb much of the production from Phoenix, the company said.
Spring Air said it has retained the real estate brokerage firm of Cushman & Wakefield to sell its Elk Grove building. The company’s senior leadership team will move to Tampa. A small group of employees in marketing and sales support will be retained and will work from a smaller office in the Chicago region.
Hellyer said Spring Air is making these moves as part of a continuing drive to rebuild the company and make it more customer focused.
“The entire industry is being squeezed by significant increases in raw material costs and consumer hesitation to make big-ticket purchases,” he said. “We believe these conditions will prevail for the foreseeable future. We are making these bold moves now in order for Spring Air to make all necessary moves to keep our costs down and our value ‘conspicuous’ for our retailers. These steps will assure that our retail partners will continue to rely on Spring Air to be the leading value ‘S’ brand on their floors for the foreseeable future.”
