Economy
Related: About this forumMattress Firm explores U.S. bankruptcy to close stores - sources
Source: Reuters
Exclusive: Mattress Firm explores U.S. bankruptcy to close stores - sources
Jessica DiNapoli
4 MIN READ
(Reuters) - Mattress Firm Inc, the largest U.S. mattress retailer, is considering a potential bankruptcy filing as it seeks ways to get out of costly store leases and shut some of its 3,000 locations that are losing money, people familiar with the matter said.
The deliberations make Mattress Firm the latest U.S. retailer struggling due to competition from e-commerce firms such as Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) putting pressure on brick-and-mortar retailers. Shares of Mattress Firm competitor Tempur Sealy International Inc (TPX.N) jumped more than 5 percent on the news to $52.90.
Mattress Firms South African parent, Steinhoff International Holdings NV (SNHJ.J), has been working on a deal to restructure the debt of some subsidiaries with its creditors, following an accounting scandal. Creditors agreed last month to hold off on their debt claims for three years.
Steinhoff acquired Mattress Firm for $3.8 billion in 2016.
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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mattressfirm-restructuring-exclusive/exclusive-mattress-firm-explores-u-s-bankruptcy-to-close-stores-sources-idUSKBN1KR21K
Renew Deal
(81,869 posts)And is the person that made that decision still working there?
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)Just by my observations over time, I have come to the CT conclusion that there is something really suspicious about big & small box Mattress Stores.
Why?
Cuz there are never any shoppers.
Seriously, they are always freakin empty, except for one or two clerks & a display of fine mattresses.
It looks like a legitimate store selling a product, but THERE ARE NEVER ANY SHOPPERS !
Something is really suspicious about Stores that sell only Mattresses & no shoppers.
I just don't know enough about how money laundering works to make my case.
Something's just not legit.
I have believed this for a few years now, and see way too many mattress stores with no shoppers, to believe there isn't something shady going on.
Thanks for your Mattress Firm post.
I have finally gotten this suspicion off my back & onto the internet, where others perhaps can dissect my often observed theory .
Mattress stores are shady as fk.
They're a front for money laundering.
I stand by my suspicion.
Seriously!
Thanks
sinkingfeeling
(51,470 posts)There were probably 6 couples purchasing when I went there.
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)Sounds like a really cool bed you have !
I would completely enjoy such comfort.
Freddie
(9,273 posts)My suburban town of 12000 or so has 2 big stand-alone mattress stores (Mattress Firm and Mattress Warehouse) plus a small independent mattress store plus Raymour and Flanagans has a huge mattress department. And we just got a new furniture store where you can get...a mattress! And until they close any day they have (or had) mattresses at the Bon-Ton. There simply cant be that big of a need for mattresses (something I might buy once every 10 years) around here. Shady indeed. We recently had a fast-food chain build their building and decide to not open (brilliant planning) so theres this shiny new empty storefront on the strip. Many suggestions have poured into the towns FB page. Hey I know what we need around here! A place to buy a mattress!
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)And wherever I'm driving, I always pass by a few, and they're Always Empty.
Except for their "blowout sale" ads there are never any cars parked in front & an occasional shopper.
Hardly enough to sustain a mattress-only storw.
Not saying their product isn't good, its just the sheer amount of empty stand alone stores.
Thanks.
Good to know I'm not alone in noticing this oddity.
Now, if this should be the case, who's behind the laundering of money?
Foreign Companies setting up fronts in the US as a mattress store?
Freddie
(9,273 posts)Can't really cost that much in materials to make. But how many do they really sell?
I don't know how money laundering works. There is a very popular pizzeria nearby, great food, always busy. The owners ex-wife was the victim of an unsolved hit-type murder a few years back. An investigation found that the absentee owner of the pizzeria was pretty high ranking in the Mafia and the restaurant was to make him look like a legit businessman. It seemed pretty obvious that he was behind the murder but he was never charged.