Simmons Bedding Company

The Simmons Bedding Company is a major manufacturer of mattresses and related bedding products, based in Atlanta, Georgia. The company was founded in 1870, and is one of the oldest companies of its kind in the United States. Simmons' flagship brand is Beautyrest. According to a Simmons press release, net sales for 2005 were $855 million.^[1] In 2012, Simmons and its sister company Serta International were acquired by private equity company Advent International.^[2]

History

Early history

In 1870, Zalmon G. Simmons opened his first factory in his hometown of Kenosha, Wisconsin. He started out by manufacturing wooden insulators and cheese boxes.^[3] In 1876, Simmons became the first manufacturer to mass-produce woven wire mattresses. This process helped the company produce beds faster and cheaper, and by 1889, with the introduction of spiral coil springs into woven mattresses, Simmons’ mattress prices dropped from $12 to 95 cents, making mattresses more widely affordable.^[4]

National business

In 1916 Simmons began advertising nationally, initiating its first national advertising campaign with a double-spread ad in the Saturday Evening Post. Later ads drew attention with testimonials from famous people such as Eleanor Roosevelt in 1927 and Henry Ford, H.G. Wells, Thomas Edison, Guglielmo Marconi and George Bernard Shaw in 1929. Eleanor Roosevelt continued to promote the brand into the 1930s, through her radio show.^[3]

By 1919 growth was fast. In response, Simmons acquired manufacturing plants in San Francisco, California; Los Angeles, California; Montreal, Quebec; Toronto, Ontario; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Vancouver, British Columbia; Elizabeth, New Jersey; Seattle, Washington; and Atlanta, Georgia.^[3] The following year, Simmons started a new sales arrangement. Instead of purchasing a mattress directly off the retail floor, customers could test the product on in-store samples, order a mattress through the retailer, and receive direct delivery from the Simmons warehouse within the next 24 hours. This arrangement reduced the need for retailers to own and store their own product inventories.^[3]

• In 1925 Simmons' engineer, John Franklin Gail, invented a machine that could mass-produce the coils and insert them into fabric "encasements". This made mass-production of the previously luxury-only product possible.
• During World War II Simmons produced parachutes, bazooka rockets and 2700 other products for the US military.
• In 1975 Simmons moved to its present day headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.
• In 1979, Simmons was purchased by Gulf+Western.
• In 1985, Gulf+Western sold Simmons to Wickes Corporation.
• In 1991, Merrill Lynch Capital Partners, Inc. acquired a majority interest in the company.
• In 1995, Simmons launched a commercial for the Simmons Beautyrest using the "bowling ball" demonstration. The demonstration remains a registered trademark.
• In August 2006 Simmons sold its chain of retail stores to The Sleep Train of Citrus Heights, CA.^[5]
• In 2006, Simmons introduced the Beautyrest Black line of mattresses.^[6]
• In 2006, Simmons introduced the NaturalCare latex line of mattresses.
• In 2007 Simmons launched the first mattresses with GEL Technology.
• In 2007 Simmons releases the ComforPedic by Simmons line.^[7]
• In 2009, Simmons introduced the ComforPedic Loft line.^[8]
• In 2011, Simmons introduced Smart Respons Pocketed Coil technology.^[9]

Bankruptcy

On September 25, 2009, Simmons announced a Chapter 11 restructuring plan and signed a purchase agreement with an investor group led by Ares Management and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (TPC).^[10] If approved by the bankruptcy court, the deal will reduce the total debt from about $1 billion to $450 million. The bankruptcy will not include subsidiaries in Canada and Puerto Rico, but those units will be included in the deal with Ares Management and TPC.^[11]

Ares and TPC are also the owners of the Serta brand name under National Bedding Company LLC. They plan to operate Serta and Simmons Bedding as independent entities that will continue to compete with one another.

"The purchase agreement we have executed and the support we have secured from our noteholders for this restructuring plan underscore the strength of the Simmons brand, our strong performance in the marketplace, and the value of the strategic and operational investments we have made in our business, people and processes over the past several years,” said Stephen G. Fendrich. “Simmons Bedding is firmly positioned as an industry leader and under this plan will retain its own identity and operational structure, have a newly strengthened balance sheet, and will remain committed to bringing innovative bedding products to our customers."^[12]

References

External links

• Simmons' web site
• Simmons Company Records, 1892-2000
• Julie Creswell, Buyout Firms Profited as a Company’s Debt Soared, The New York Times, October 4, 2009