top

Click Logo to Visit

Family-owned Independent Mattress Manufacturers Offer New

Sleep Technologies and Close Working Relationships To Retailers

 

By: Dale T. Read, Editor-in-Chief

 

In this era of mass media, internet technology, direct marketing and multi-national companies, the independent, family-owned mattress manufacturers provide a refreshing alternative to small and mid-size bedding retailers, traditional furniture stores and retailers looking for custom-tailored programs.

 

For this issue of BEDROOM Magazine, we have interviewed three high-visibility, veteran independent mattress manufacturers.

 

These are Wickline Bedding, Park Place Corporation and Gold Bond Mattress.

 

BEDROOM Magazine: Yours is a privately held, independent and family-owned business. How did your family get into this business? Can you share some of the highlights of your company’s history?

 

Michael Malkiewicz, President, Wickline Bedding: “The company was founded during the Great Depression by Roy Wickline. He managed the company operation until he was 77 years old. With no heir apparent to assume his duties, he turned to my father, Ray Malkiewicz, in the late seventies. My father was vice president of Simmons in the 60’s and 70’s. The stresses of the corporate world were beginning to weigh on my dad and he always respected what the independent companies had. In 1978, Simmons was sold to Gulf Western and planned to move the company back to New York from Atlanta. Roy Wickline contacted my dad at about this time and was ready to retire. He wanted the company to retain his family business values and sold the company to my dad. At the time, my dad was also determined to preserve the company’s family atmosphere, so he invited my brothers, Mark, Jim, his son-in-law Tony Colantono and me to manage marketing, production and sales.

 

Presently, Wickline Bedding Company has factories in Escondido, California (near San Diego) and in Sacramento, primarily serving retail and contract customers throughout the western United States. In recent years, I have served as the president of the company and my dad is chairman of the board of the family business. Mark plays a major role in sales and the company’s substantial contract, or institutional business. Jim is president of, and runs the Sacramento operation. And Tony is the production manager, making it all happen.”

 

Jimmy Orders, President/CEO of Park Place Corporation: “Having no more than a sixth grade education my grandfather, J. B. Orders founded Orders Mattress Company in November, 1931 during the depth of the Great Depression. He left mining country in West Virginia and moved to South Carolina. He created the business in a 50 x 100 foot building with no money, hard work, long hours, himself and three employees and two pieces of used machinery (a sewing machine and a blower for filling the mattresses). He knew that people needed to sleep. Explaining why he chose mattresses, J. B. said, ‘I know that no matter what happens people would continue to sleep, and I feel they will buy good mattresses’.”

 

“From the beginning, J. B. made a good product. He built the company on a foundation of hand-crafted mattresses, hard work and his personal integrity. He believed that the public would be willing to pay for quality: ‘We never changed this belief and never for a moment lowered the standards of our bedding’. My grandfather limited his debt, paid it off, and his philosophy was to make the best possible product, sell it for a fair price and re-invest the profits in the business.”

 

“My grandfather and my father, James B. Orders Jr., were the models of consistency. They built and expanded our business over the years on personal faith, honesty, integrity, quality and good stewardship of the resources of the company.

 

In 1934 my grandfather began making premium innerspring mattresses. They also created the brand name Orderest® following a contest won by C. D. Roper of Jones Furniture Company in Greenville, SC which came up with the slogan, “In Order to Rest, Buy Order’s Rest’.”

 

“My dad, James and my uncle, Bill joined the company in 1948/1949. In 1951 the company introduced the extra firm bedding line known as the Orderpedic. And in 1955 we marked a new era by successfully introducing the new super-sized beds known as queen and king-sized beds. For a brief period, the company had franchises ranging as far as Maine; however, in keeping with J. B.’s philosophy of concentrating ‘on doing a better job with the business we have’, the company decided to really serve its regional customer bases. We opened distribution centers in South Carolina and North Carolina.”

 

“In December 1958, my father, James B Orders, Jr. became president and COO. Under his leadership the factory, and the business improved and grew. He expanded the business into the institutional and industrial side creating a healthy contract business. My father also saw the need to update and modernize, and in response to market conditions, he instituted an incentive wage system in 1972, and he oversaw the development of a carefully planned computer data system based on an IBM System 3 in 1974. This was one of the first projects that I was personally involved with having recently joined the company.”

 

“My father had three sons; my brother John, who is Vice President, my brother David who is VP/Administration and myself. We became more and more involved with the company during the 1980’s and 1990’s. Some of the highlights of that period included the research, investment in and subsequent launch in 1981 of Comfortaire Corporation (the Original Airbed Company, which has grown to serve over 500 mattress/bedding/home furnishings retailers). I served as the President the International Sleep Products Association (ISPA) from 1989-1990. In 1994 we officially became the Park Place Corporation, and in 1997 we opened our new 150,000 sq. foot headquarters and mattress manufacturing plant on a 40-acre campus just off route 85 in Greenville, SC. Sadly my father passed away in July 1997, but his values and inspiration have remained with us, and today we are among the top 20 US mattress manufacturers.”

 

“In recent years we have continued our active role and leadership in the mattress industry. My brother David served as Chairman of ISPA from 2005 to 2006. Park Place has focused more and more on our mattress business providing leadership, superior quality, and making bedding products with a story that resonates with the consumer. Marketing a broad line of innovative products under the store-is-the-brand label SLEEP THERAPY® ‘The Original No-Turn Mattress’, we have experienced considerable growth and expansion over the past few years.”

 

Bob Naboicheck, President of Gold Bond Mattress: “Gold Bond Mattress was founded in 1899 by my grandfather, Isador Naboicheck, a Ukranian immigrant whose family had a history in the bedding business. When they settled in the Hartford, CT area, he utilized those old world skills, traditions and values to build one of the finest mattress businesses in the U.S. When my father joined the business, he took the company to the next level, as I hope I have, and my son “Skip” who recently joined the business, will do.”

 

“One thing has never changed; my grandfather’s values, those of honesty, unflinching customer service and uncompromised quality and value, still serve as the core of what Gold Bond represents!”

 

“From day one Gold Bond began in the innerspring mattress business using the finest quality materials and hand-made construction techniques. Fine mattress and furniture retailers were our primary customers, but we also had a bustling business-to-business (or contract) market.”

 

“When futons emerged as a growing product, we stepped boldly into the futon sector. With focus and dedication Gold Bond became not only the largest futon mattress manufacturer in the U.S., but one of the largest in the world. However, we continue to focus on our roots, offering extremely high value and differentiated mattress sets ranging in prices from $399 to $2,999. We offer a wide selection of sleep sets. ranging from our luxury two-sided Premiere Collection; our Visco/Latex Perfection and Natural Latex specialty sleep lines, and most recently we have introduced our ‘Comfort Collection Series’ to bring greater value for the $1000 and under mattress market.”

 

BEDROOM Magazine: Do you or your family have a specific business philosophy that you believe may be central to your company’s success over the years?

 

Michael Malkiewicz: “My Dad always instilled in us that we have a family first and then a business. If the business were ever to disrupt the harmony of the family, then it’s time to sell the business. Businesses come and go but families are forever. We have also translated this family philosophy into a personal way of working with our retailers. We treat them with the same respect that we offer each other, as family members. It’s all about relationships; it’s about relationships with your employees, relationships with your suppliers, relationships with your customers and a mutual respect among our family members. These relationships are one of the reasons that we developed the concept of the ‘Sleep Therapy’ program, as opposed to imposing the Wickline label on our retailers. ‘Sleep Therapy is their brand, more than it is our brand.”

 

Jimmy Orders: “Our business philosophy is that the product and service we provide must be in the best interest of each of our stakeholders, including customers, associates, suppliers and stockholders. This philosophy has served Park Place Corporation and its customers well over 75 years.”

 

“However we have an overriding philosophy of stewardship guiding the company. We are stewards responsible for managing and multiplying the resources we have been blessed with. Therefore, it creates a business and personal philosophy that says we need to manage our affairs with honesty, integrity, wisdom, faithfulness and sense of humility, thankfulness and service.”

 

Bob Naboicheck: “I know that in today’s business world talking about values may seem corny, but, that is what differentiates us. We deliver on what we say, and we do so consistently. That honesty, making good on our word is what differentiates us from our competition. Our customers know they can call me anytime with a problem.”

 

“We are personally involved. I still do much of the dealer training myself! What other nationally marketed brand offers that kind of continuous access? I do it because it is essential for me to help our customers, both dealers and consumers, to get the finest quality, the finest service, and the greatest value from Gold Bond products.”

 

“We also have a corporate philosophy of giving 25-percent of our profit to charity each year. To us this means that our success not only benefits our customers, retailers, our employees and management, but also the communities where we do business. We support senior citizen centers, food pantries, and other community organizations.”

 

BEDROOM Magazine: How is this business philosophy different from the competition? How does it distinguish or differentiate your business?

 

Michael Malkiewicz: “For the most part, our philosophies are the same as our competitors. At the end of the day, we hope to have made some money. Perhaps where we do differ is in the development of brands, such as Sleep Therapy, which are geared to offer ‘the store is the brand’ product offerings. We place the needs and wants of our retailers up front and create programs that work for them. We believe this clearly separates us from the big national brands, who often restrict product offerings and control the marketing message.”

 

Jimmy Orders: “We view the assets we are given as being entrusted to us to manage wisely to the best of our ability. In order to make these assets grow and to have an excellent return on resources, people and time, we have to take into account the needs of all our stakeholders. If you look at our Park Place Corporation Mission Statement it clearly says that we are a company, ‘dedicated to growth through the application of principled-centered leadership.’ It also says that, ‘We require superior financial performance to protect the investments of (all) our stakeholders.”

 

“Being a privately held, family-owned business we tend not to be highly leveraged like some of our competitors. We can step away from the short term earnings perspective and actually engage in longer term planning and goals that mean excellent returns for all our stakeholders.”

 

Bob Naboicheck: “Gold Bond is an independent company run by people with ‘mattress-making in their blood’. We’re mattress people, not financiers or outside investors. We are not leveraged to the hilt with private equity giants or shareholders demanding high returns on investment—at all costs. We are in a position to run our business differently, and allow us to work closely with our nearly 500 retailers to give them the right product mix, training and support. We partner with those retailers to provide them with high quality, superior-value products that are actually different.”

 

BEDROOM Magazine: Does this philosophy reflect a company culture or values and how do these reflect on your business? Your products? Your customers? Your employees?

 

Michael Malkiewicz: “When you have your name on the product, there is a major sense of pride in the quality. Roy Wickline entrusted his family name to us and we will carry that name as if it were our own.”

 

Jimmy Orders: “I think what we’ve already talked about . . . the values integrity, consistency, honesty, best efforts, and serving as hard-working stewards to serve the needs of our customers and the other people involved with our business sums up our values and our culture.”

 

“In order to meet the needs or our employees we’ve instituted an incentive program. One of the most pleasant things I get to do is to hand out bonuses to those folks who have given us outstanding performance and resulted in our growing and doing well.”

 

“We encourage and appreciate leadership at all levels within our company. We believe that if we take care of our people, and encourage them to participate in our overall mission and purpose, they in return will take care of our customers. We encourage a culture where our associates use their judgment and initiative to do this everyday in ways both large and small.

 

Bob Nabiocheck: Where the philosophy filters down into the business is that we have a real passion for what we do. The increasing consumer focus on sleep as a contributor to healthier living continues to fuel volume sales. As more consumers understand the importance of a good mattress for a comfortable night’s sleep, they will look for greater value in the mattresses they purchase, and from whom they purchase their new sleep set. We want it to be Gold Bond!”

 

Many of our employees have been with us for a long period of time . . . generations in fact. We help each other like family. When one is having a tough time financially, we try to do what we can to get him back on his feet. When an employee had a mix up with the police years back and needed bail money, I personally went to the jail to bail the employee out. The bail bondsman, commenting on how “in the old days” it would be common for business owners to help employees in this manner, could not remember when the last time he had seen a business owner come in to help an employee in need.”

 

BEDROOM Magazine: How do you see your business, your products, as being different from national brands or other larger or publicly-held companies?

 

Michael Malkiewicz: “As an independent, we are not leveraged to the point where profitability is at the expense of quality. Because we lack the brand awareness, we pretty much stay focused on providing value. Consumers do not shop a particular store because of the brands they carry. They shop that store because they have a level of trust that that store will provide a quality product at a fair price. And if they have a problem with that product, the store is there to stand behind it. Therefore the store becomes the brand.

 

Jimmy Orders: People and policies come to mind. On the people side there is still an Orders (actually 3) involved in the daily business after 75 years. There are not many mattress companies left today where the lineage to the founder is still active. Complimenting the family is a strong team of non-family professional managers. Our policies position would always be tempered by our mission statement which can be found at http://www.parkplacecorp.com/mission.asp. In this regard we tend to be a little old fashioned in that we believe a good deal needs to be a win/win rather than a win/lose. We believe in the Golden Rule. If you were to graph a typical Park Place relationship with our customers it would invariably start small and grow for many, many years as our policy of quality products and good customers service produces added value. “As I stated earlier, as a smaller, privately held company, we can think longer range. We don’t have to focus on short-term dividends only. We can engage in future planning, innovation, creative product development and offering a superior product for our retailer and the consumer.”

 

Bob Naboicheck: We build strong, personal relationships with our nearly 500 retailers, most of whom are independent or family-owned businesses like ours with 1 to 4 stores. These retailers are often getting less attention from the larger brands than they deserve. We build partnerships, putting our retailers’ needs first. We offer them the right number of SKU’s, the right mix and the lines they need providing them with high-quality, superior-value products that are different. Rather than focusing on paying down debt or our financial and business goals, we focus on our customer’s needs from product development to pricing marketing and support.”

 

BEDROOM Magazine: Describe your retail customers. What distinct advantage do you feel you offer your customers and prospective customers?

 

Michael Malkiewicz: At Wickline, we pretty much focus on selling furniture stores. We do not mass distribute our products so we can identify a strong retailer in any given area and partner with him to provide an exclusive product. It boils down to margin for the retailer and with our mattresses, margins are held.

 

Jimmy Orders: “Depending upon whether you are talking about Park Place Corporation or Comfortaire, we reach out and serve a broad range of furniture stores, department stores, sleep shops, and specialty sleep shops from small mom and pop dealers to larger branded retailers. We work closely with them to offer them innovative products that address the needs, wants and desires of their customers. As Edwin Shoffner, our Vice President of Sales likes to say, ‘We offer our retailers something beyond the traditional rectangular bed with the Sleep Therapy line.’”

 

“Park Place Corporation also offers consistency and stability to our retailers. We have been around for many years, we are stable, and we build long-term relationships with our dealers’ needs in mind. As we state in our Mission statement, ‘We are committed to meeting the needs of our customers with quality products and prompt, courteous service’.”

 

Bob Nabiocheck: “As I explained earlier, we place the needs of our smaller retailers first and give them what they need to have a really successful and profitable bedding program. So for example you will see thick, rich and plush, two-sided mattresses in our high end line. You’ll also see some of the latest comfort technologies incorporated into our new $1000 and under Comfort Collection line. A customer walking into one of our nearly 500 dealer locations will be able to differentiate the Gold Bond brand because of the look of our line-up by seeing both the plush profile of many of our SKU’s, and also the wonderful European imported fabrics we use to create a clearly differentiated ticking. We are bringing more value to our mattresses priced under $1000 to increase customer satisfaction, sales volume and market share for Gold Bond and our retail partners.”

 

“We continue to improve our service and delivery capabilities. As the company has grown, Gold Bond has devoted our resources to quickly reaching our retailers. Our customer relationships and direct customer service is without doubt one of the real points of differentiation for Gold Bond. Because I am, as the principal of the business, so intricately involved with our dealer service and client relationships, many of the problems that occur with other mattress companies do not occur at Gold Bond. I’ll hop a plane or drive to a customer and inspect the product or discuss the problem face-to-face. We find that that commitment translates into a very strong bond not only between the consumer and the retailer, but also back to Gold Bond. Our dealers know that we will take care of them and their customers. They know that this pledge and commitment comes from me as the head of the company.”

 

BEDROOM Magazine: Tell us about your key products. Are there any specific features, benefits and attributes that you are proud of and you feel offer something different, beneficial and/or exciting for the retailer and the consumer?

 

Michael Malkiewicz: “Our flagship trade name is definitely Sleep Therapy. Wickline ‘Sleep Therapy’ series is the original No-Turn® mattress designed to never require flipping. Our family proudly believes that our unique No-Turn Plus design is the best one-sided mattress on the market. My dad likes to point out that we have put over eighteen years in extensive research and development and over fifty years of sleep experience to create the Sleep Therapy program. Not to brag or boast, but we developed this No-Turn concept 27 years ago and have been offering No-Turn to our retailers since 1980.”

 

“Sleep Therapy for 2007 will see us return to foam encased TriZone and Five Zone pocketed coil. All models feature stretch fabrics and a unique hand-tailored tack and jump border with 8 Euro-Tac handles. This is by far the best of Sleep Therapy in our 58 years. It has everything you could want as a retailer: the look, the feel, the price, the margin and the marketing. Retails start at $599Q-1299Q.”

 

“We are particularly pleased with the design, creation and the marketing of specialty products developed and offered under the Sleep Therapy brand by the folks in the East Coast. We also expect to be marketing the Sleep Therapy Wellness Collection, in conjunction with these other independent manufacturers. We are incorporating some of the latest natural and synthetic sleep components into the Wellness Collection line, to offer consumers health, wellness, comfort and unsurpassed value for their dollar.”

 

Jimmy Orders: “Right now with our new Sleep Therapy Wellness Collection we are offering perhaps the most unique, powerful and beneficial line of bedding we’ve ever offered, for price retail points from $999 to $1999 for queen size sleep sets. These seven innovative mattresses focus on the consumer’s health and wellness, each one with its own unique story. The seven in the Wellness Collection are:

≈ Aloe Therapy with a therapeutic sleep environment;

≈ Cool Therapy offering cool and comfortable sleep;

≈ Eco Therapy with natural bamboo yarn;

≈ Heat Therapy reduces overheating and perspiration;

≈ Magnetic Therapy reduces pain;

≈ Oxygen Therapy ideal for active lifestyles;

≈ Aroma Therapy offering soothing relaxing aroma of lavender.

 

Each of these beds contains the latest in sleep component technologies and construction geared to offering better health and wellness. These products have been extremely well received by both consumers and our retailers. They represent an important part of the growth we have experienced in the past few years, and we are optimistic about their future growth potential as well.”

 

Bob Naboicheck: “We’ve already discussed our luxury, high-end two-sided mattresses and the latest comfort technologies in our new under $1000.-line. However we continue make innovations where the consumer will easily perceive it. We still use steel edging to support a mattress, unlike our competitors who use Sytrofoam. Our box spring construction is also far superior to competitive products, offering the right level of support for the bed system. We do not cut corners, and we give the retailer a different product line-up to sell and provide excellent value to the consumer.”

 

BEDROOM Magazine: What are some of the unique or unusual marketing, customer training and merchandising programs you have offered your retailers?

 

Michael Malkiewicz: “In terms of unique, we were the first company to ever offer a non reversible mattress. That was 1982. In the early 90’s we actually considered a visco type product. For better or worse, we chose to stay with innerspring products at the time. 1996 saw Country Nights. Country Nights opened more doors of opportunity than any program we ever created. Country music stars such as Alan Jackson, Neil McCoy, Faith Hill, Holly Dunn, Terry Clark and ATLANTA worked with us on a regional basis. In 2006 and 2007 Sleep Therapy will continue it’s ‘wellness based’ marketing theme. We have had tremendous success selling this program because the demographics support this concept. Baby boomers are getting older. They want more out of a mattress than just comfort. They want a mattress that will promote health and wellness. The added value of wellness is what has made Sleep Therapy a remarkable value.”

 

“We also give back to the community. We are strong supporters of the US military. We provide funding to The Clara Barton Center for Juvenile Diabetes Research and have just partnered with Avon Cosmetics and the Avon Foundation supporting breast cancer research and access to care.”

 

Jimmy Orders: “Our sales and marketing team are currently in the process of upgrading and introducing seven new point of sales pieces on this new Sleep Therapy Wellness Collection. We also have in-store sign or gallery presentations for the Sleep Therapy line, including signs that promote the fact that Sleep Therapy is the ‘Original No Turn Mattress’. We provide our retailers with all the back up product information they need to sell this exciting new line up.”

 

Bob Naboicheck: “Because of the close working ‘partnership’ strategy of working with smaller independent retailers, we play a far more critical role in helping our retailers succeed. From individually prepared POP displays, labels, signs, to our website, we are regularly improving our offering in this area. Training is probably the most unique, as I myself still try to get to every new customer to assure that their sales associates understand our products, how they are different, how they offer value and satisfaction to the customer, and how to sell a Gold Bond mattress and box spring.”

 

BEDROOM Magazine: If you were to sum up everything we’ve talked about in a relatively simple statement, what would you tell BEDROOM Magazine’s sleep retailers?

 

Michael Malkiewicz: “Wickline Bedding Company is a company of integrity, honesty, and value. Our own employees accuse us of thinking with our hearts and not our heads. In order to survive in this business, one must establish relationships and continue to nurture them. That includes relationships within your family, employees and customers.”

 

Jimmy Orders: “Whether it be Park Place Corporation (Sleep Therapy) or Comfortaire Corporation, bedding retailers doing business with us can expect quality products, as well as prompt and courteous service tempered with a personal relationship with people who have been making mattresses for 75 years and hope to be doing so for another 75 years! We love what we do . . . and it shows!

 

Bob Naboicheck: “A dealer doing business with us can rest assured that my grandfather’s values, those of honesty, unflinching customer service and value, still serve as the core of what Gold Bond represents today!”

Top of Page