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David Perry

Rule of Threes holds true, but will cycle be broken?

The presidents of two Top 15 bedding producers were talking the other day, wondering which one of them might be getting the ax. Someone had to go. Who would it be? Well, it turned out to be someone else. Those two presidents are still in their current jobs. They can breathe a sigh of relief.

The Rule of Threes, as we will call it, spared them. The third president of a Top 15 bedding producer to exit was Chris Henning, who left Tempur-Pedic at the end of 2006 to spend more time with his family. Henning, whom I've known and liked for years, was president of Tempur-Pedic's retail unit.

His departure capped a tumultuous year for bedding presidents. In October, we learned that Larry McKay, president of Comfort Solutions (the old King Koil), and Carlene Evenson Peterson, president of Restonic, were leaving their jobs. When I told my editor about those departures, he brought up the Rule of Threes: These things, he said, usually happen in threes.

Truth be told, I had my doubts about that. The reality is that the ranks of top bedding producers can be remarkably stable. We can go years without any changes in the corner offices. So I wasn't really thinking that another shoe would fall.

But there is a superstitious strain in even the most serious bedding types. Thus it was that those two Top 15 presidents were wondering about their fate. And now that the third shoe has fallen, this whole Rule of Threes phenomenon may get more attention from the skeptics.

I wrote about the departures of McKay and Peterson in a column several weeks ago, noting that Restonic needs stability in its president's office. That brought this response from Tom Comer, a Restonic licensee and major shareholder:

"Until recently, the shareholders of Restonic, who are also the majority of licensees, have been disengaged from the affairs of our licensor. We've been operating and growing our own factories without much regard for our national brand management. This has changed in the past few months. The shareholders are now involved in a process of re-evaluating our entire company, from the boardroom to the president's office, throughout the entire staff. You will see a stronger, stable and vibrant Restonic emerge. We will announce our new president only when we find the right fit. We will be very deliberate."

Thanks, Tom, for giving us that Restonic update.

Meanwhile, we also said goodbye last fall to Mike Lorelli, president of Latex International, who did a great job for that company.

I'm not trying to make anyone nervous, but does that mean two more bedding presidents will shortly be departing?