Needs outweigh wants: Rockford Mattress to close

By Melissa Westphal

BusinessRockford.com

The familiar neon jumping-sheep sign at Rockford Mattress Co. has a limited life span.

The Powell family has decided to close the business after almost 80 years, which means Rockford loses another locally owned and operated business.

Factory-direct stores aren’t exactly a dying breed, but Rockford Mattress offered products that were made and sold at 212 Seventh St.

The Powells are unsure when the doors will close for good. The store is liquidating its inventory — headboards, pillows, bed frames, futons, daybeds, mattress pads, futon covers and foam. The business has stopped manufacturing mattresses.

They said sales have fluctuated the past five years, and the need to close the store became a reality in December. Someone offered to buy the business, but the Powells didn’t want the on-site manufacturing and selling to change.

“The industry has gone backward,” owner Ralph Powell Jr. said.

Powell’s grandfather, Charles A. Powell, founded Rockford Mattress in 1928. After World War II, his sons, Ralph O. and Charles A., joined the business.

Powell worked at the store as a teenager and became full time in 1972. He became sole proprietor in 1987 and runs the business with wife, Cyndi. Their son, Tyler, worked there while he was in school.

The business has been on Seventh Street since 1936. Before that, it was on Kishwaukee Street near First Avenue and for a short time was in another downtown location. The Powells noted that the store has always been near the heart of the city.

Several factors led to the decision to close: industry changes, rising costs of materials and the overall economy. Two letters from their box-spring supplier showed 7 percent and 5 percent increases in costs — and that was just in three months.

“What we’ve offered has always been unique,” Cyndi said. “But people maybe can’t spend the money this year like they did before. They have to pay for food or gas. The wants aren’t as important when the kids need shoes.”

“And we can’t raise prices to compete,” Ralph said.

Economic conditions have been hard on the mattress industry, said Ryan Trainer, executive vice president and general counsel for the International Sleep Products Association. Costs for steel, wood and foam have increased.

“The economy turning down has a lot of companies under pressure,” Trainer said. “Housing starts as well as income trends tend to drive sales. If a consumer doesn’t feel secure in spending on what he or she wants to, then that person won’t need buy a new mattress.”

Trainer said factory-direct companies are active in many communities. Beloit Mattress Co. has operated in the Wisconsin river town since 1929, and Verlo Mattress Factory had a Rockford franchise, although it has been closed for several years.

Factory-direct makes up about 1 percent of sales, which translates to 44 million mattresses each year, Trainer said. Comparatively, national furniture chains take 10 percent, and local and regional stores make up 28 percent.

“Bricks-and-mortar stores are losing ground a bit to e-retailing and telephone/TV sales,” Trainer said. “But a mattress is a still a product that consumers want to go to a store and find.”

Cyndi will continue working but her husband “will take it easy for awhile.” Ralph, 58, said he looks forward to retirement, but the strangest part will be not making the trip to come to work as he has done for the past 36 years.

“It’s kind of a relief, too,” she said, “with the up-and-down nature of the business the past few years.”

The Powells’ next challenge will be selling the building that houses Rockford Mattress.

Staff writer Melissa Westphal can be reached at 815-987-1341 or mwestpha@rrstar.com.

Buy now
Rockford Mattress Co. is closing after almost 80 years in business and will liquidate its inventory, which includes headboards, pillows, bed frames, futons, daybeds, mattress pads, futon covers and foam.

The store, 212 Seventh St. in Rockford, is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Call 815-964-9141 or visit rockfordmattresscompany.com for more information.