Kingsdown will continue to be a fierce competitor in the retail mattress marketplace, pushing aggressively to win in battles with the leading bedding brands in the Somnigroup International portfolio, Kingsdown’s chief executive officer said in an exclusive interview at market.
He made the comment several days after Kingsdown, a leading bedding producer in the North American market, announced that Somnigroup International, the global parent of Tempur Sealy and Mattress Firm, had made a “passive minority investment” in Kingsdown.
“We are always competing,” said Frank Hood, Kingsdown’s long-time CEO. “If we can beat Tempur Sealy products out, we will. We will always win on our own devices.”
He said the bedding marketplace expects strong competition among the industry’s leading players.
“We will continue to be a fierce competitor in the marketplace,” Hood said. “That’s what this market needs and that’s what customers demand.”
Hood said his company welcomes the investment that SGI recently made in Kingsdown, one that Kingsdown did not solicit. It’s a vote of confidence in the brand and the strong group of employees at Kingsdown, and it’s an endorsement of Kingsdown’s heritage and its future growth prospects, he said.
Seated next to one of the company’s new high-end Margaritaville mattresses, debuting in Hooker Furnishings’ Showplace showroom this market, Hood offered an in-depth assessment of the significance of the SGI investment. In addition to SGI’s affirmation of Kingsdown’s strategic approach to the market, that investment also signals SGI’s commitment to a healthy mattress marketplace, Hood observed.
“Somnigroup wants the North American mattress industry to prosper,” he said.
Scott Thompson, SGI’s chairman and CEO, said SGI was pleased to partner with Kingsdown, “whose long-standing reputation for quality and innovation aligns closely with our own values. Kingsdown’s tailored product range complements our existing portfolio, broadening our reach across key consumer segments.”
The investment also demonstrates SGI’s “expectations of long-term growth in the U.S. and Canadian bedding markets,” Thompson said.
When the world’s largest bedding company buys a competitor, that makes a statement, Hood acknowledged.
He said that some of Kingsdown’s investors sold their shares to bring SGI into the Kingsdown ownership group. But he stressed that SGI and Kingsdown will continue to run their businesses independently. Kingsdown will share top-line financial results with SGI, but “no customer-level details” will be shared, he said.
Hood admitted he was surprised when he heard that SGI wanted to invest in Kingsdown. “Any investment would have to be on our terms,” he said. And that’s how the transaction unfolded.
Kingsdown remains in a financially strong position and is looking to record a growth year in 2025, Hood said.
Kingsdown has been a vendor to SGI companies over the years, he noted. It has been a technology provider to SGI’s Dreams retail operation in the United Kingdom, and it has long been a vendor to Mattress Firm.
Hood, now starting his 17th year at Kingsdown, said Kingsdown has been a Mattress Firm vendor “on and off, largely on” over those years. “We are always battling for more slots at Mattress Firm,” he said. “They are absolutely a customer we want to sell. We also want to sell every customer around Mattress Firm stores.”
Hood had a few words for competitors who are suggesting that the SGI investment represents “a big brand takeover” of Kingsdown. “Keep your eyes on your own business,” he said. “We’re the same Kingsdown. We are as hungry as we have always been.”
