Starting a Mattress Store

Summary: Are you interested in the business of selling mattresses? Open your own store by becoming a dealer of an established mattress distributor, a general retailer of generic mattresses, or an independent producer and seller of mattresses.

Learn some basic facts about entering into this business from our basic guide.

You can own a mattress store by becoming a dealer of an established mattress distributor, a general retailer of “non-branded” mattresses, or you can be an independent producer and seller of mattresses. To enter into the mattress business, it would be best if you have some prior experience about making or selling mattresses. Experience means you may have worked for a mattress maker or a salesman for a mattress distributor.

Becoming a Mattress Retailer

Some big mattress distributors license agents to sell products under their names. You can be one of their dealers. Try to research for the names of famous mattress suppliers in your state and locate their Web sites. In the site, look up for information on how to become a dealer. Becoming a dealer for another company means subscribing to how they do business. You have to meet their specifications from how to put up the store to how to sell to customers.

Alternatively, if you have prior experience in retail, perhaps as a salesperson for a mattress store, you can open your own business using the knowledge and contacts you have gained from your previous work. You will have to:

• See how much capital you can afford and how much you are willing to raise from relatives, friends and the bank.
• Determine where you can buy mattresses at wholesale prices
• Determine where to locate your store and construct your own building, buy an existing facility or enter into a lease
• Hire and train salespeople
• Get the necessary permits and licenses to operate your store

Becoming a Mattress Maker

Some mattress maker supplies a line of products for other distributors that have well-known brands in the market. If you think you can go on your own, you can become independent and produce mattresses under your name and distribute them yourself. Usually, it is hard for smaller manufactures to compete with bigger ones because they do not have the advantage of economies of scale. To survive, smaller companies specialize, producing a unique line of products, introducing a new way of doing business, or targeting a niche market. For example, you can specialize on producing organic mattresses or high-end mattresses using materials like flax, cashmere and memory foam.

If you have been working as a mattress maker and are opening a production facility, you will have to:

• Determine where to locate your production and see whether you are allowed to open such a facility under your local zoning regulations
• Just like opening a store, see how much capital you can afford and how much you are willing to borrow before you can determine the size of your business
• Either construct your own building, buy an existing facility or enter into a lease
• Hire and train workers. As part of your feasibility study, you will have to determine whether there are workers you can hire for your production