Sleep Train to rename all 318 mattress stores

Rocklin-based Sleep Train announced Friday that it will unify under the Mattress Firm brand, renaming all 318 stores to Mattress Firm.

Sleep Train’s stores will join Mattress Firm’s 3,500 company-operated and franchised stores across the United States.

Mattress Firm, headquartered in Houston, acquired Sleep Train in 2014 in a deal valued at $425 million. At that time, Sleep Train agreed to a takeover by Mattress Firm Holding Corp., a fast-growing chain that has endeavored to build a major presence nationwide.

Back in 2014, Sleep Train founder and CEO Dale Carlsen retained executive status in his company and said, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m a Sacramento boy.”

Carlsen retired from his Sleep Train duties in late 2015. He is now the CEO of the Rocklin-based Ticket to Dream Foundation, a nonprofit partner and beneficiary of the Mattress Firm Foster Kids program. Both organizations seek to raise awareness and support for foster children nationwide.

The renamed Sleep Train stores will continue to offer a selection of mattresses, bedding accessories and related products from manufacturers that include Serta, Simmons and Hampton Rhodes.

Sleep Train officials said the company’s Rocklin operations will remain intact under the Mattress Firm brand

Spokeswoman Shauna Nuckles said current Sleep Train employees “will not be affected by the name change. All have actually been Mattress Firm employees since the acquisition. Mattress Firm has roughly 10,000 employees.”

In a statement, Ken Murphy, Mattress Firm president and CEO, said, “After thorough evaluation of best practices to better serve our customers and community, we found strength in one united brand and purpose. By coming together under the Mattress Firm name, we can provide a better selection and better pricing based on our ability to buy in larger quantities.”

Officials said Sleep Train’s nationally recognized Foster Kids program will be united with the Mattress Firm Foster Kids program, adding nearly 100 nonprofit foster care organization partners to help more than 400,000 foster children nationwide.

Sleep Train has a significant marketing presence in the Golden 1 Center downtown. In a carryover from the former home of the Sacramento Kings, Sleep Train Arena, three-point baskets made by the Kings are accompanied by the recorded sound of a train whistle. On Friday, Nuckles said in an email that the company’s “presence will continue as Mattress Firm branded at Golden 1 Center. Currently, we don’t know what they will replace the whistle with.”

Sleep Train was founded by Carlsen in 1985.

For more details, go to mattressfirm.com.

This story was originally published March 3, 2017 at 11:07 AM with the headline "Sleep Train to rename all 318 mattress stores."