Top Mattress Companies

Simmons

Simmons Company is a Delaware corporation with executives in Atlanta, Georgia. Simmons is the second largest mattress manufacturer in the U.S.

Approximately 87% of Simmon's sales are in the U.S. 13% are in Canada.

Brands
Beautyrest- Flagship brand that accounts for most of Simmons' sales. (Beautyrest reviews)

Beautyrest Black- High end brand in the $2,000 - $6,000 range. Uses the "Advanced Pocketed Coil" spring. (Beautyrest Black reviews)

BackCare- High end brand with zoned coil units. Configuration aims to support the spine more adequately. (BackCare reviews)

Natural Care Latex- Mattresses with a latex core. (Natural Care Latex reviews)

BackCare Kids- Full line of mattresses designed for children.

Deep Sleep- Value brand with price under $1,000 for a queen set.

Sales
In 2007-2008 Simmons raised prices for all innerspring mattresses and foundations to offset a significant increase in raw material prices. The cost of steel and oil(petroleum based products) increased during this period. The average price increase in Simmons products was 9.7%.

Corporate challenges for Simmons:
The most significant challenge Simmons faces is their debt situation. Simmons is a highly leveraged company. Given the current economic environment their ability to service their debt load could come into question. In fact, on November 12, 2008, the company entered into a "forbearance agreement" with it's creditors. Basically, Simmons is negotiating with their creditors to keep the business running.

Update: Simmons Company will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The debt load previously mentioned was simply too high to manage. Simmons will be purchased for $760m by a private equity arm of a pension plan. This organization also owns National Bedding Company which is the owner of Serta. Initial plans are for both companies to be run independently from one another but one would expect NBC to find economies of scale opportunities with the purchase. Interestingly, this transaction will likely catapult Serta/Simmons(National Bedding Company) to first place in bedding sales.

Competition is another challenge for Simmons. There are 500 mattress manufacturers in the U.S. all of which seek to take some of Simmons' massive market share. The most notable competitive risk is from 3 or 4 of the largest manufacturers.

Simmons owns or leases manufacturing facilities in several locations:
Agawam, Ma
Aurora, CO
Charlotte, NC
Compton, CA
Coppell, TX
Fredericksburg, VA
Hazleton, PA
Honolulu, HI
Janesville, WI
Salt Lake City, UT
San Leandro, CA
Shawnee Mission, KS
Sumner, WA
Tolleson, AZ
Waycross, GA
York, PA
Kirkland, Quebec
Bramalea, Ontario
Calgary, Alberta
Delta, British Columbia
Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico