Tuft & Needle
TypeBrand
Industry
FoundedJuly 19, 2012 (2012-07-19)
Founders
  • Daehee Park
  • John-Thomas Marino
Headquarters
Phoenix, Arizona
,
U.S.
Number of locations
7 stores (2018)
Area served
United States
ProductsMattresses
RevenueIncrease $170M (2017)
OwnerSerta Simmons Bedding
Websitewww.tuftandneedle.com

Tuft & Needle is an American mattress and bedding brand now owned by bedding manufacturer Serta Simmons Bedding. Tuft & Needle was among the earliest online, bed-in-a-box marketers that launched in the early 2010s.[1] On September 28, 2018, the online seller was acquired by Serta Simmons Bedding and the Tuft & Needle brand now is on the floor at major mattress retailers and in Tuft & Needle stores, as well as online.[2]

History

Tuft & Needle started as an e-commerce company founded on July 19, 2012 by Daehee Park and John-Thomas Marino.[3] Both met via the entrepreneur program at Pennsylvania State University.[4] The company was co-founded on July 19, 2012 by Park and Marino with $3,000 of each of their personal savings.

Park and Marino grew the company to over $100 million in annual revenue with no venture funding. Within its first full year in business, the company generated $1 million in sales at the end of 2013.[5] In April 2014, Park spoke about founding a start-up and achieving success at IST Start-Up Week, which was hosted by Pennsylvania State University.[6] The company later opened its first brick and mortar showroom in the company's Phoenix headquarters in December 2014,[7] which was made as "an experiment" and was available by appointment only.[8]

Tuft & Needle acquired TN.com in September 2015. The company established its headquarters at the historical O.S. Stapley Hardware buildings on Grand Avenue in Phoenix in December 2015, after a city grant of $300,000 was used to improve and repair the buildings by a real estate developer.[9] In 2015, Tuft & Needle grew to over 100 employees and earned over $100 million in revenue.

After turning down investment offers from venture capital investors, Park and Marino took out a $500,000 loan from Bond Street in 2016.[10][11] In 2016, the company launched a national billboard campaign entitled "Mattress Stores Are Greedy".[12]

In 2017, the company had $170 million in sales.[13] Tuft & Needle spent over $14 million in media during the same year.[14]

On September 28, 2018, Tuft and Needle closed a merger with mattresses manufacturer Serta Simmons Bedding.[15][13] In November 2018, they also announced a partnership with Amazon to release an Amazon-exclusive mattress called "The Nod." by Tuft & Needle.[16]

On January 23, 2023, Serta Simmons Bedding filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[17]

Retail presence

As of January 2019, Tuft & Needle operates seven retail stores in Scottsdale, Gilbert, Seattle, Kansas City, Raleigh, Portland, and Dallas.[18] Their products are also stocked at select Lowe's, Crate & Barrel[13] and Walmart locations across the United States.[18][19]

Reception

The company has received press from Business Insider,[20] Marketing Land,[21] The Arizona Republic,[22] Consumer Reports,[23] Forbes,[11] Phoenix Business Journal,[24] Bloomberg,[25] and Wired.[26]

References

  1. ↑ Wu, Jasmine (18 Aug 2019). "There are now 175 online mattress companies—and you can't tell them apart". CNBC. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  2. ↑ Brown, Brandon (21 Aug 2018). "Country's largest mattress maker to buy Tuft & Needle". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  3. ↑ "Our Story". Tuft & Needle. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  4. ↑ Rop, Aaron (16 May 2014). "Tempe online mattress company thrives". Arizona Central. Retrieved 10 November 2016 – via USA Today.
  5. ↑ Del Ray, Jason (5 March 2014). "How a Startup Created the No. 1 Rated Mattress on Amazon". Recode. Retrieved 10 November 2016 – via Vox Media.
  6. ↑ "Heard on Campus: Daehee Park, co-founder of Tuft & Needle". Penn State News. Pennsylvania State University. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  7. ↑ Doerfler, Sue (26 December 2014). "Online mattress store opens Phoenix showroom". Arizona Central. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  8. ↑ Brown, Brandon (19 December 2014). "Online mattress retailer opens showroom in downtown Phoenix". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  9. ↑ Goth, Brenna (8 December 2015). "Phoenix startup to fill historic Grand Avenue building". Arizona Central. Retrieved 10 November 2016 – via USA Today.
  10. ↑ "Tuft & Needle Recent Activity". AngelList. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  11. 1 2 Feldman, Amy (15 January 2016). "How Mattress Startup Tuft & Needle Said No To VC Money, Borrowed $500K And Opened Its First Store". Forbes. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  12. ↑ "Ways Brands Develop Connections". Breakthroughbrand. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  13. 1 2 3 Hirsch, Lauren (21 August 2018). "Serta Simmons to merge with Tuft & Needle". CNBC. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  14. ↑ Monllos, Kristina (2019-07-18). "One year after merger, Tuft & Needle is bringing a DTC approach to Serta Simmons". Digiday. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  15. ↑ LLC, Serta Simmons Bedding. "Serta Simmons Bedding And Tuft & Needle Close Merger". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  16. ↑ "There's no place like home away from home". Aistream. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  17. ↑ "Serta Simmons Bedding files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection". 2023-01-24. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  18. 1 2 "Store Locations | Tuft & Needle". www.tuftandneedle.com. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  19. ↑ Mandel, Eric (21 August 2018). "Atlanta mattress giant Serta to buy upstart e-commerce brand". Atlanta Business Chronicle. American Cities Business Journals. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  20. ↑ "We're obsessed with this online mattress company — it's more affordable and more ethical than the rest of the competition". Business Insider. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  21. ↑ "Brick-and-mortar revitalizing omnichannel success". Marketing Land. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  22. ↑ "Tuft and Needle sees explosive growth in mattress sales". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  23. ↑ "If You're Looking for a Bed in a Box, You've Got More Options". Consumer Reports. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  24. ↑ "Scottsdale group buys historic Phoenix hardware store for new Tuft & Needle HQ". bizjournals.com. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  25. ↑ Stock, Kyle (12 March 2015). "New Startups Aren't Keeping Big Mattress Up at Night". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  26. ↑ Rhodes, Margaret. "Inside WeLive, WeWork's Dorm-Style Take on Urban Housing". Wired. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
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