The Mattress Firm conspiracy!?!

So first of all I would like to point out that my little sister brought this to my attention today and at first I didn’t think anything about it. She then came over to ask if I wanted to have a movie night, then asked if I had looked into it? I told her no I didn’t think there was anything to it. Then she starts showing me odd facts about this company. Here in Vegas there is a street that has three on it a very short distance from one another. I thought that was kinda weird but still didn’t think much about it. So I asked her what is the conspiracy here? She said that she thinks they are a money laundering front for cartels. That kinda intrigued me. She left and I googled there corp HQ. To my surprise its in Houston. Then I started to look at other major cities and found that Most major cities have them in close proximity to each other. And to be honest I don’t really see a need to have more than two in a major city. I never see more than maybe one car that could be a customer vehicle. The employee cars are always on one side of the lot. Plus you only need to get a new mattress every 7-10 years. Any ways I thought this was fun and wanted to give you guys something to think about besides all the sad news. Have a good day all of you!

I don't know about this. I think I'll have to sleep on it

a reply to: schuyler

I know it is a large wth are you talking about kinda thing. But this is ATS and looking into it does show something doesn’t seem right. IDK if it is laundering but just weird. Sleep on it and get back to me lol

I bought a mattress from them last year. I asked the sales manager why there were so many store locations in my area, and he told me that their business plan was to flood certain areas with their storefronts in an effort to force competing mattress retailers to go out of business. Once they succeed in getting certain competitors to close, they too would scale back their store locations in the target areas.

Proximity doesn't add up to conspiracy. I have a friend who lives on Columbia Street in New Westminster, BC, and there are possibly a dozen bridal shops along a stretch of three blocks. They can't all be laundering money or involved in kidnapping sex slaves. Sometimes similar stores cluster together to make it easier to get customers out looking for the same thing.

a reply to: Allaroundyou

It looks like there have been quite a few mergers and acquisitions in this company's history. That could explain overlap in some locations where leases have not yet come to term. They also seem to have three different types of stores; Mattress Firm (normal), Mattress Firm Enterprise (not sure what that is) and some clearance stores, which could be near each other.

I don't really get the money laundering theory based solely on store locations.

Dont forget that these also used to be Sleepy's mattress store's which adds to their overall footprint.

Both times I have been in a MF recently their was 1 person working and 3 to 4 customers waiting for help so a different exp then you had.

originally posted by: opethPA
Dont forget that these also used to be Sleepy's mattress store's which adds to their overall footprint.

In Southern California they used to be Leed's Mattresses. That company went under (I'm guessing), but the individual stores are still there, now with different names but with logos featuring the same blue lettering with lines in it.

Mattresses are high-profit items. They don't cost that much to make in small sweatshops, but you stick a Sealy tag on them and they're worth big $$$$$.

How about all the furniture companies that have the never ending "going out of business clearance sale". Complete with the yellow banner signs, sign waivers down the streets, and all that.

I've ran into this conspiracy while looking up conspiracy in general. I think it's a conspiracy in itself, if it's meant to push other conspiracies out of the way. Or maybe it's my ISPs or searches trying to bring this to the top of searches? Great now it will come up on ATS topic searches on the net.

NO CONSPIRACY HERE!

Husband works for them. It was a corporate buyout (they acquired Sleepy’s) and instead of closing stores (like the should have), they converted all stores into Matress Firms. Was a dumb move, because it’s a massive over saturation. This has lead to many problems, including crap sales and crappier pay for employees.

I can attest to this first hand.... the paycheck has been horrible. And many employees have been hit so hard, and are so over worked they are becoming understaffed.

There IS POSSIBLY CONSPIRACY news in that Stienhoff International (current owner) is involved with some shady business.

a reply to: Allaroundyou

It does seem odd, but I think its simply market saturation - if there's 20 Mattress Firms to every "other bedding company", they'll get the majority of the sales. Like shelf space in the grocery store.

The other part of it is, mattresses are crazy high margin, and those stores thrive on add-ons. If they had to, they'd sell at cost, and as long as they had enough sales, they'd make their money on the optional add-ons / financing.

a reply to: Allaroundyou

I know it is a large wth are you talking about kinda thing.

Yes it is.

Are you or your sister saying that a company that sell mattresses is a front for money laundering for cartels?

That does seem clear, but the reason being because there is a few of them in close proximity?


Is there anything else to go on as to why on would speculate such?


You checked the company website, their HQ is in Houston, are the stores they have franchises or simply locations and managed by HQ in Houston?

a reply to: InhaleExhale

are the stores they have franchises or simply locations and managed by HQ in Houston?

They are not franchises.

Google Steinhoff International- who bought Mattress Firm, but allowed them to “self-manage” from HQ in Texas.

In my area, Mattress Firm and Sleepy's both had storefronts. Mattress Firm bought the Sleepy's company and (in many cases) converted all Sleepy's stores to Mattress Firms, even when a Mattress firm was already nearby.

The business model employed here is to (a) have so many stores that they are the only game in town and (b) wait to see which location of two nearby locations does better, then once they corner the market, they close the less successful store.

a reply to: Allaroundyou

I swear I thought the same thing about the place where I live. There's a major mattress store and in all my years of living here I never seen anyone buy a mattress from them. That and there's really no stores around it . It's right next door to a gas station. I have never seen a customer inside the store in years. Granted I do work 8 hours a day.

If you want to go looking for money laundering or illegal immigration, look no further than your nearest Chinese restaurant that has been in business for 20 years but you've never seen anyone actually eating there.

Nice find......keep tracking down these con-jobs....WCB Canada is another fiat money laundering entity......lets see how many we can out together.

Plus you only need to get a new mattress every 7-10 years.

cover your mattress with a good water proof cover when new and it should last 20 years.

the things that harm mattress are mite and oils from the body. and a cover will also protect from bed bugs if sealed right.

mattress company's are a scam as most use low grade materials