1800Mattress.com

History

1800mattress.com was founded as Dial-A-Mattress in 1976 by Ecuadorian immigrant Napoleon Barragan. He and his wife had saved up enough money from working odd jobs and selling Avon products to open a mattress and used-furniture store called College Furniture Discounters next to York College in Jamaica, Queens. Later that year, he saw an advertisement in the newspaper for Dial-A-Steak, a business that sold meat over the telephone, and was inspired to create a similar business model for mattresses.

In 1978, Barragan opened 1-800-Matress with just one employee. He took out advertisements in The Village Voice and New York Post, offering free haul away. In the beginning, the business used the 212 area code. The first Dial-A-Mattress television commercial debuted in 1979 and its toll-free 800 number was first promoted in 1988. The name was changed to 1-800-Mattress to match the familiar "1-800-Mattress" jingle written by Andy Vallario, president and chief creative officer of Media Results, Inc.

Having quickly eclipsed the furniture store where Barragan originally worked, the company went national. It built a network of distributors and partners to sell mattresses across the country and also establish franchise regions in Boston, Philadelphia, South Florida, and New England.

By August 1993, the company had 185 employees and annual sales of $30 million. At the age of 54, Barragan was a millionaire. However, in September 1994, Barragan pled guilty to tax fraud after an audit discovered the company had under-reported the amount of sales taxes it collected from customers. By 1995, the company was making $55 million per year and had over 300 employees. In 1999, 1800mattress.com was launched.

Barragan's son, Luis, was named president and COO in 2002, helping the company move into online. In 2005, near the company's peak when it was the leading bedding telemarketing company in the US, 1-800-Mattress had annual sales in excess of $100 million. By this point, it had direct operations in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. as well as 400 distribution centers, 44 showrooms and numerous franchises across the country.

1-800-Mattress announced in March 2007 that it was changing its name to 1800mattress.com to reflect the company's growth in online ordering. At this time, there were 104 retail stores in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and California. In 2008, the company announced plans to open 40 stores in the Washington, D.C. area. Three stores in Manhattan changed its hours of operation to be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

By 2009, the company's sales had fallen to below $100 million, down from $170 million two years prior. In March, creditors filed an involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition against 1-800-Mattress, seeking $1.7 million. In order to avoid liquidating the company, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection pending a proposed sale to former rival, Sleepy's. At the time, the company employed more than 350 people across more than 100 locations in New York, New Jersey, California, Connecticut and Maryland. In May, Sleepy's purchased the intellectual property rights to 1800Mattress.com at auction for $25 million.

In 2015, Sleepy's was itself acquired by Mattress Firm for $780 million; Sleepy's retail stores became Mattress Firm, and 1800Mattress.com remained in use for some time. However, the website now redirects to Mattress Firm.

References

References

1. (1996-01-01). "1-800 Mattress". [[New York Magazine]].
2. Levin, Robert S.. (2006-01-02). "The New York Enterprise Report".
3. Algar, Selim. (2009-05-14). "1-800-MATTRESS SLAY".
4. [http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/reasonstoloveny/15368/ Because a Guy from Ecuador Can Sell Soda Off the Back of a Donkey, Then Come Here and Build a $120 Million Business—All It Takes Is a Few Mattresses and an 800 Number] ''New York Magazine''. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
5. Verdezoto, Maria Elena. (2006). "Sleep on it: an Ecuadoran finds a novel way to sell mattresses, and builds on empire along the way".
6. Buell, Spencer. (August 15, 2024). "‘That’s nice!’: Four New England jingles we still can’t get out of our heads - The Boston Globe".
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9. Barron, James. (1993-08-15). "The New Millionaires: Making It In Tough Times". The New York Times.
10. (1994-09-21). "Dial-a-Mattress Chief Admits Tax Scheme". The New York Times.
11. Todé, Chantal. (2009-03-25). "Sleepy's to acquire 1800mattress.com".
12. Wayne, Leslie. (2006-07-08). "Luis Barragan, 34, Executive Who Updated 1-800-Mattress, Dies". The New York Times.
13. (March 26, 2007). "1-800-Mattress Changes Name To 1800mattress.com".
14. Perry, David. (2008-10-14). "1800mattress.com plans 40 D.C.-area stores".
15. Perry, David. (2008-03-10). "Three 1800mattress.com stores to stay open 24/7".
16. (2009-03-24). "Dial-a-Mattress, in Bankruptcy, Plans Sale to a Rival". The New York Times.
17. Pasquarelli, Adrianne. (2009-03-24). "Bankrupt 1-800-Mattress plans merger with Sleepy's".
18. (2009-03-25). "Sleepy's agrees to pay $2.1 million for 1800mattress.com".
19. Ledger, Times. (2009-03-27). "LIC-BASED 1-800 MATTRESS FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY".
20. Engel, Clint. (2009-05-27). "Sleepy's to pay $25 million for 1800mattress.com".
21. (May 29, 2009). "Sleepy's To Pay $25 Million To Acquire Acquire 1800mattress.com Assets - Furniture World Magazine".
22. Beckerman, Josh. (December 1, 2015). "Mattress Firm to Buy Sleepy's for $780 Million". Wall Street Journal.