Casper Plans Brick-And-Mortar Expansion

As Casper seeks to fight off competition from internet imitators, the mattress and sleep retailer is looking to open the doors of 200 brick-and-mortar stores. The retailer aims to expand its identity from a place to buy a mattress to a destination to purchase a variety of sleep products, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“Customers aren’t always in the market for a mattress, but everyone cares about how they sleep,” Casper CEO Philip Krim told WSJ.

The retailer is not the only digitally native company to turn to retail stores in an effort to bolster sales and visibility: Everlane and Warby Parker, for example, have also expanded their brick-and-mortar footprints. At the same time, some online retailers have sought out busy locations to help their marketing efforts as online customer acquisition costs have risen.

For Casper, Krim said the brand’s acquisition costs have fallen, partly because of the new store openings. “It’s a way to educate new consumers,” Krim told WSJ.

The news comes as Casper decided to open a permanent store earlier this year after experimenting with pop-up shops. As The Washington Post reported, the company’s first brick-and-mortar location is in New York City and features six mini-bedrooms. In those spaces, customers are able to test out Casper’s products, such as pillows, sheets and duvets. The store will also host community events focused on sleep and wellness.

“Buying a mattress or sheets or pillows is one of the most intimate purchases you’ll make,” Krim had told the Post. “You should be mentally relaxed and comfortable so you can find the right product.”

In addition to pop-up stores, the company has experimented with trucks containing four napping pods, dubbed “Napmobiles,” which gave customers an opportunity to try out the company’s mattresses. To help customers sleep, the pods came with prerecorded bedtime stories as well as privacy blinds.