American Mattress has been successfully selling mattresses for 35 years and has built up over 63 locations in Chicagoland. But now, the growing retailer is moving into a new market: Florida.
With the recent addition of its 64th and 65th stores in Naples and Bonita Spring, the company is hitting Floridians who know the brand from previously living in the midwest.
And while the new stores may be in a different state, store owner Mike Kenna told The FAM that they’re going to be very consistent with the Chicagoland stores.
“Obviously we are going to have a little bit of a different lineup down there than we do in the Chicago market because of the climate in Florida, but we’re also going to have about 80% of our lineup be consistent with what we have in the Chicago market. The size of the new stores is consistent as well, measuring from 4,000-4,500 square feet in size.
“Over the last probably five to seven years, we’ve been doing a lot of third-party deliveries to places like Naples, Bonita and Marco Island because a lot of Midwesterners are moving out there,” Kenna continues. “So we have a lot of brand recognition there, and we have a lot of people that know us and have been dealing with us for a long time, so there’s a little bit of a loyal customer base.:
Having delivered many orders to Florida, Kenna says it made sense to move into the Florida market, and they’ve been eyeing it for the last five years.
“Last year was the first time we really started taking it really seriously,” Kenna explains. “I have a partner in the Florida market, a different partner in the Florida market than I have in Chicago, but my Florida partner has worked for me for 15 years, and moved his family out to the Florida area. This is an opportunity that we just felt was good timing and had the right person and the right partner.”
The stores officially opened in the middle of November, and although it’s barely been a month, Kenna says he’s seen good traffic — orders being placed every day — and people are starting to become aware that they are in the Florida market now.
“We’re going to start advertising come January, and have a good budget to really get our name out there and to make sure that people know we’re there and we’re ready to service the Florida area,” Kenna says.
