Mattress Firm May Be Gearing Up For Bankruptcy Filing

Mattress Firm, seeking to shore up its operations and get rid of store leases, is reportedly gearing up for a bankruptcy filing. The company, which is based in Texas, has 3,000 brick-and-mortar stores, Reuters reported.

Sources close to the matter told Reuters that the process would likely take only a few months. In addition, the sources said that it is expected. Mattress Firm’s vendors would receive full repayment, and, through the process, it would shrink its brick-and-mortar footprint. Mattress Firm and its parent company, Steinhoff International Holdings NV, didn’t respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

In August, people familiar with the company said that the retailer was mulling a bankruptcy filing. Tempur Sealy International’s stock rose 5.2 percent and closed at $52.64 as a result.

Steinhoff International Holdings NV acquired the company in 2016 and has reportedly sought to restructure some of its debt. In July, creditors said they would halt debt claims for a three-year period. Even so, the mattress company’s plans are still in flux and that a final decision has not been made. Steinhoff and Mattress Firm are reportedly working with AlixPartners, which works with companies on turnaround strategies.

The company behind major mattress brands like Tempur-Pedic, Sealy and Stearns and Foster posted a full-year decline in revenue in February 2017, marking the first annual decline for Tempur Sealy International since 2012.

A 2017 report from Bloomberg noted that, even as conditions were prime for mattress buying — the economy was good, and consumers were obsessed with wellness — traditional players in the space needed to work harder to keep pace against new entrants and changing shopping behaviors. When looking for mattresses, consumers no longer felt obligated to shop in-store.